We arrived in a town called Letterkenny in the northern part of the Republic of Ireland. We were greeted by several members from the church as well as the youth pastor who will also serve as our bus driver for the duration of the trip.
There was a hall full of mattresses, pillows, and blankets awaiting us. When we step out of the door, before us are two churches that were built in the 17th century. To be around this much history, it makes you stop and breathe it in. We are between two structures that are older than our own country.
Once we settled in, we were able to learn a bit about the history of the country and the church here. When the British came to Ireland there began to be a division in the church with those that were native to the country and others that were trying to build something new. Like most events in history, conflict arose and left the country for a time without a strong church. Once the church became active again, the Irish people began to go around Europe to evangelize and bring people back to the Lord. This change did not keep the Irish from the division of denomination. Churches were built and these walls began to separate the country as well as the church.
Hearing about the history of Ireland made us realize that these walls are preventing a community from combining and sharing in their faith. The community that we are serving these next two weeks have a heart for breaking down the walls of denomination and bringing the church and the village together starting with the youth. I recently heard a phrase that is hard to forget. We have built up walls but we all worship the same God. We are excited about being part of a church that wants to see these walls come down not only in the hearts of the people but also the village.
We will be involved with their version of Vacation Bible School teaching about Daniel. In the evenings we will be working with the middle/high school youth getting to know them and loving on them. It’s bound to be an exciting week. The team is doing great and the planning is complete. There will be more to come!
