With Thanksgiving just finished and Christmas around the corner, we’ve really been looking at how God has blessed us and our ministry. It’s taken a while, but we are finding ourselves feeling more and more at home. We are continually evaluating and reworking what we are doing.
We’ve changed the format of our outreach from one meeting on Monday nights, to many smaller meetings throughout the week. Monday nights were fun, and had a great sense of momentum, but now people are starting to ask more personal questions and it is time to take the opportunity to pursue those questions in a more one on one environment. We also want to encourage relationships with each other and so we are going to start hosting group meetings in a home – maybe ours, but hopefully someone who lives in town will be willing to host. We’ll be starting these in January, and will be watching a video series as well as just “hanging out.”
We still intend to do a church launch next year. At this point, we are focusing on planning, designing, and praying for a strong foundation. We want to know what we’re doing before we take off.
I have done a lot of travelling over the past few months. I've gone to Arizona and Atlanta and am headed back to the US next week to find more ministry partners and support. In Atlanta I participated in the National Missions Conference where the response to our ministry was enthusiastic and encouraging! Keep me in your prayers as I struggle with the time difference and am trying to make the most of my time away from home.
Although we’re in Ireland, Marie and I still wanted to celebrate Thanksgiving. She cooked all day and invited my family over for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. My niece brought apple pie and we all ate until we were stuffed. Now we’re looking forward to our first Christmas here in Ireland. Next week the tree will be up and we’ll get the joy of watching Tara open presents and experience the Christmas season.
Thank you for being a part of our adventure and keeping us in your prayers. Please pray that God continues to give me wisdom in making the decisions that will influence the church in Ireland for years to come. Pray that God speaks through me and straight into the hearts of the people longing to know who He is. And pray for our whole family, that we continue to be strong in the Lord and a light to the people around us.
Merry Christmas!
Dermot, Marie and Tara |