Back from Ireland

I realize this post is really late since I've been back for about a week now...but it's taken me a while to "readjust" and to find the time to post.

So, how was Ireland? That's the question I've been getting a lot lately. For some of you, you just want a simple one or two word answer, for others a sentence, some of you may want even more detail. So...

1. The trip was incredible. (still interested...keep reading)

2. In a sentence summary: I gained a whole new perspective on what it means to desperately seek after God with all your heart and an urgency to make the most of every opportunity I am given to share Christ's love with others. (still interested...keep reading)

3. The two biggest take-aways from this trip were PERSPECTIVE and URGENCY. Heading into this trip, I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew little of Ireland, little of the culture, the people, the religion, the kind of ministry we'd be doing...pretty much I didn't know a whole lot of anything! Yet looking back...I think that was a great place to be, because what I gained as a result was incredible.

Ireland has a fairly recent history of corruption in the church and out of that stems a lot of hopelessness, hurt, and anger among the people. They are not open to evangelism because they've recently seen so much hypocrisy and deceit in the church. You could sense it in the people we had the opportunity to talk with. In light of all this, the kind of ministry we did was much more casual. We spent a lot of time just building relationships through casual conversation and spent a lot of time prayer walking throughout the cities. But through it, I gained a lot of perspective on a ministry tool I often overlook...Prayer. How often do I forget the power in prayer? How often do I forget that I am called to be a person of prayer? How often do I ignore or belittle people's need for prayer? Prayer is a way for me to join with God in the work that He is doing. Perspective...I got a lot of it through this trip...that was just a small taste...

Still interested? More to come...