We are so excited to share some of the things God has been doing but first, a life update. A lot has happened and we haven’t been in touch recently so we really want to address this first.
Our first 12-13 months of marriage were really difficult. On top of the normal (just learning to be married) stuff, Grace’s dad passed away and then several months later Patrick’s mom passed away. We also decided to move out to the country where we had the opportunity to rent to own a house in Ashland County. All this led to a meeting with Encompass World Partners late last year when we decided to take a break from pursuing missions with the goal of strengthening our individual relationships with God as well as strengthening our marriage. We are so thankful for the decision because the fruit of it is evident in both areas. Then in February God began to put missions back on our minds so we reached back out to Encompass.
Now, back to the current day. While we are still excited about reaching those who do not know Jesus, we feel that the place where we will do this has changed. We have felt a very strong connection to the people of Dublin, Ireland and we are excited to investigate their culture. Like France, Ireland is becoming a more and more post-Christian society. According to the Joshua Project (https://joshuaproject.net/countries/EI), about 90% of the people in Ireland would identify as Christian while only about 1.5% actually understand the Gospel and follow Jesus. Interestingly, there is also a widespread aversion to the Church and Christianity in general according a missionary in Dublin. This is understandable considering years of abuse by people within the Church body. We are praying 1 Peter 4:8 that the love of Christ would heal those that were wounded by the Church and we are excited by the prospect that God may use us in this mission.
Ways to pray:
Our main goal in this whole trip is to see if this is a place where God is opening doors for us to take on a more long-term role in missions in Dublin. Please join us in prayer as we finalize details for this trip as well as discern where God is leading us.
We will be traveling to Dublin this summer. We are both taking unpaid time off work for this trip and we are asking for prayer for provision. Not only for the trip itself but also that Patrick’s job will respond favorably to his request for time off.
Pray for the ability to be present in our current jobs while also dreaming about the future.