Brilliant.

I have always had a very set view of what people do on mission trips. They go, they build things, talk to people, and maybe mention Jesus once in a while. On past trips I always had fun, but would come home questioning how much of an impact I really made. This trip has totally blown away my expectations! I am loving it. 

I should probably give you the run down of the past week. When we arrived, we went through training in evangelism, Irish culture, and Catholicism with our partners at Operation Mobilisation. The facts that were presented in training astounded me. While many Irish people will claim to be Catholic, few actually know the Lord. In fact, 99% of the Irish population are not born again Christians. Wow. That blows my mind!! Later on, we were sent to a nearby town to complete a scavenger hunt. One of the items we had to find was a person that was able to recite the verse John 3:16. My team asked over 30 people around town, and not one knew the verse. Many didn't know what we were talking about at all. When we asked people 40 or older, many shrunk back as if we had asked them something offensive because they have been so hurt by the Catholic church. Ireland is lost.

After a few days with OM, our team set out to a town called Shannon. Our goal here is to use any vehicle available to tell people about Jesus. We've knocked door to door to share the gospel and hand out tracts, put on impromptu kids camps, acted in skits in public areas, performed worship music outdoors, played games in the town square, and talked to strangers. While all of this has been grand, my favorite part about the whole trip has been working with the youth.

Because the 40+ generation has been wounded by the Catholic church, many are very hardened to Christ. The teenagers know that their parents don't like religion, and few have attended any type of church more than a handful of times. The youth have also been given massive amounts of freedom, with parents shooing them out of the house. It's almost like they are raising themselves. The freedom that they have leads to many issues: drinking, drugs, sex, alcohol. Many are wounded and hurt, and need identity and truth spoken into their lives.

While we are here, our main task is to run youth nights at the church. The church leaders here believe that revival will happen in Ireland starting with the youth, because they have no prior experience with religion and are earnestly seeking out an identity of their own. Here in Ireland, the teenagers all hang around outside with their friends. They choose a meeting point and walk around the town in a big group of 10-15 people. They'll stop in the park to drink a beer or two, and then move somewhere else and do it over again. They are everywhere!

Thankfully, God has made the approach pretty easy 🙂 We Americans have strange accents, so we can just walk up to the groups and start talking. It's amazing how well they respond! They ask a million and one questions, so it's pretty easy to strike up a conversation. We can then tell them about our youth night with games, music, and some hangout time. Because they move in packs, if one comes, they almost always all come.

We've had two youth nights so far and will have a few more this week. Both times we have had an amazing turnout! I almost died when I saw all of the big tough guys doing the "human knot" and having a blast. It's always the toughest and loudest who need the most love. We play lots of games with them, and they LOVE it. They will ask to play certain games, and even the shy ones get into it. In fact, tonight we were hanging out with a group in the town square just chatting. One girl was so excited to spend time playing games that she said "let's go to the church, shall we?" We didn't even have to ask her! The whole group followed behind. While they'd never admit it, they love it.

Tonight after a bunch of rowdy games, our Operation Mobilisation rep David shared his testimony. He is from Northern Ireland and lived a life very similar to the kids on the street. The kids were hanging on his every word while he was telling about how Jesus rescued him from drug addiction, alcoholism, and despair. The Lord is visibly working on their hearts. They want to know more about who Jesus is and what is so different about a life with Him. Please be praying that the seed falls on fertile soil!

This country needs Jesus so badly. They are searching for identity and worth so fervently. Many teenagers are asking the questions "Is this all there is to life? Is this really it?" Most have never heard the gospel message. They desperately need to hear it!!

This trip has been incredibly life-giving for me. I am so thankful that Jesus rescued me from my own desires. He took me and validated me and gave me an identity. As I look at these teenagers and realize that I was one of them, and still could be one of them today, I realize how much Jesus loves me just as I am. He replaced my perfectionism, self-reliance, arrogance, and stubbornness with trust, hope, joy, fulfillment, and peace. Every day the lines "tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, just to take him at his word" become truer. It is a beautiful thing to trust in Jesus. He bring so much hope and life. I treasure this time as he loves on me. Jesus, Jesus, oh for grace to trust him more.

Whole group at a local Cathedral