Ministry Updates

Most of our friends here are close to our age (which, by the way, Jason is now 35 years old - meaning he’s on the downhill slide to 40) and would be considered nominal, or cultural, Catholics. I was speaking with one friend about Lent a few weeks back and, not surprisingly, he said that he wasn’t doing anything and that the whole thing smacked of pretense and hypocrisy. His reason? People don’t really believe it, but they do it anyway - except on St. Patrick’s Day where they all take a break. While one can’t make generalizations of everyone based on that comment, it certainly reveals what I think is a not uncommon feeling.

It is the season of Lent as we move closer to Easter and so our church is doing some Lenten Bible studies during our Wednesday meeting that a colleague of ours put together a while back on the life of Jesus. We’re hoping that over the course of years these will become an even bigger opportunity to speak into the lives of people during a time of year where they might be more willing to entertain spiritual conversation.

God has been moving here, and we are thankful! We have had two young adults place their trust in Christ through ministries of the church. We also saw an international evangelist share his testimony in a citywide event to over 500 folks at the university. Mandy and I got to chat with some people there about the Gospel. Over the past couple of months we’ve been averaging in the 70s for people on Sunday mornings. We praise God for several important conversations Mandy and I have had in the past month with people. Finally, as always, we are thankful for those who faithfully support us financially even when it is difficult. We don’t take it lightly.

Upcoming Events

Things don’t seem to slow down here at least until the summer, which means that we are revving hard at the moment. Please pray that God would guard our hearts. Pray for our people. We have many folks who are dealing with some tough things: cancer, anger, unemployment, legal trouble, etc. Please pray that we might have wisdom and ability to help as we can. We have a team from a church in Houston this next week. Would you please pray that God might give them a heart for what He is doing in Ireland? And, though they’ll be here only a short time, please pray that God would use them. Of course next Wednesday is St. Patrick’s Day. It really is a sight to behold. People will be drinking from about 10am and won’t stop all day and night. It’s interesting this year because Patty’s Day is midweek. I’d love to know how many people don’t show up for work the next day! Please pray that God would create a sense of discontent in the hearts of all these people who feel that drink can fill up what is lacking.

We have two important things we would appreciate prayer on. In case you didn’t hear, we were able to get our visas renewed. Thanks for praying. We are still trying to get something more permanent, so please don’t stop praying. Please also pray for our support. We need to bring in new committed supporters to our team. Please pray that God would raise up those people and churches who would stand alongside us on a regular basis.

Family

The family is great. Mandy and I are doing well and the girls are enjoying life. Ruby may as well be 3 years old. She’s running around with the others and doing a good job of holding her own. We continue to pray that God would capture the hearts of our girls, save them, and use them as influencers. Please pray with us!