January, 2008
This trip had several objectives, the primary of which was to develop
the right relationships in Ireland and Latvia, plus vision casting for
the hosting churches in the Netherlands. Of course, confirming that
there would be a project in Latvia in September of 2008 and discovery of
the possibilities of more people for Ireland 2008 was a close secondary
objective.
Sent Saturday, 12 January
I am now in Dublin and just finished my visit with Phil
Kingsley. Many possibilities for the future here!
My third try to send this . . .
Friday evening
I am sitting on my plane, poised to fly from Chicago to
Dublin. I will be in Ireland for about 5 days, then to Latvia
for 2 days and finally to Netherlands for the final 2 days prior
to returning to the US on the 20th.
As always, I hunger for your prayer support!
In these 9-10 days, I will be having 8 meetings, visiting in
1 church service, and participating in 1 short preparation
retreat.
Blessings to each of you, too . . . |
Sunday night (13 January), midnight
I am in beautiful Dunfanagy, Donegal after a wonderful day in
several locations in Ireland. I began in Magherafelt with Clive
Johnson and heard a young lady share a stirring story of work
God is doing in Belfast. I will be meeting with her on Tuesday
afternoon to see how we can/will work together. Her ministry is
perfect for partnership, I believe.
I spoke in the church about IC and many people were
interested. I then went behind Clive (driving like James Bond,
on the wrong side at Mach 2) to his home through a breathtaking
mountain (ok, large hills) drive. Just spectacular! Didn’t get
to take pictures as I had a firm grasp on the steering wheel.
(and I think my eyes might have been closed in panic part of the
time!).
After a wonderful and special lunch prepared by Clive’s dear
wife, we had a meeting with a pastor and elder from a church
near Clive’s home in Strabane. They were very excited to hear of
IC and the partnership teams and are saying they will most
likely want a team in July when others are coming to help the
Armstrongs with the church plant in Donegal.
We raced from that meeting (move over, Mr. Bond) to
Letterkenny and met with the pastor there and two of his elders.
Again, a positive reception to the notion of having teams
through IC. More discussions will follow.
I then drove by myself to Dunfanagy. The weather was drizzle
and cold and the driving thus more interesting. Since I was in
James Bond mode, I continue by myself at Mach 2 to Dunfanagy.
Alan & Rosemary were patiently waiting and we had a very nice
chat about work past and future. They send their love to all who
know them.
It is now 12:46 am Monday and I think I need to go to bed. I
see the Dallas American football team lost in the playoffs. So
now I can go to sleep! |
Ireland, wow! Ireland
Tuesday night (15 January) about midnight
This has been an incredible time in Ireland. In very city,
every meeting, there was a sense that partnership
will happen. I saw an interest in
connecting in holistic evangelism efforts. In Belfast the
discussion covered the possibility of a three year program of
projects in their area. Pastors and lay leadership from churches
in Strabane, Letterkenny, and Magherafelt also responded very
positively. Of course this is in addition to the church effort
that IC has partnered with in County Donegal last year and this.
After several years of conversations and discussions about
partnership, there seems to be some sudden breakthrough with
many churches. Other opportunities have been identified by Phil
Kingsley in Dublin. More on that later.
In addition to meeting with churches, I had a delightful
conversation with Gareth Higgins a prolific young writer in
Belfast. Our daughter, Rebecca, has read is blog for some time
and suggested I should see if anyone knew him in Belfast. It
turned out that we were actually able to get together at his
flat. It was a refreshing conversation and I look forward to
continuing the conversation and growing our dialogue.
I am back in Dublin and leave tomorrow for Riga. I was able
to have a rather long Skype phone call with Janice and some time
with our daughter, Rebecca, also on the phone part of the time.
It is now 1:03 am, so think I will go to sleep. |
Thursday night (17 January) - Latvia
Another
delightful day! My flight yesterday from Dublin to Riga,
Latvia, fortuantely, was in eventful. A quick taxi trip to the
hotel, salad dinner and getting caught up on paperwork. Great
sleep (I have always found Latvia to be a great place for sleep
– I don’t know why).
More
paper/email/computer work this morning and then I went ot the
offices of the Baptist Union of Latvia. Peteris Sprogis, the
Bishop (General Secretary) is a great host and had invited
pastors and lay-leaders as well as the students of the wonderful
new Baltic Pastoral Institute. 13 people gave me their email
address and want more information, most saying they are
interested in hosting teams, with several wanting a team this
fall.
I thought you
might want to see some pictures. Click on pictures to see
a larger version.
I will be
flying to Holland tomorrow. |
Today’s meeting
Baltic Pastoral Institute
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Last night – Saturday (19 January)
I just finished dinner with Esther and Greg Barber in
Heemskerk (Holland). She served in the summer camp program at
our church many years ago. She is now married and they are
expecting their first baby in |
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March. I will be heading to bed in a few minutes
(it’s 9:20 pm here) since I have a 4:15 wakeup in the morning to
go to the Amsterdam airport, then London, the Dallas. I had a
wonderful time the night before with Hans & Simone Hamer and
their 3 children at dinner. I (and many others) have loved them
for a long time. It was good to have a breakfast with Jaimie
Prigge and his new wife Marloes before going to the church for
the project planning time. Today was as wonderful as each of
the other stops have proven to be. We have 4 churches in Holland
receiving teams and 17 people came for the preparation meetings
to prepare! That is so great. God certainly led as we tossed
aside the agenda I had put together and simply dream some really
big dreams about how God might see the May project unfolding.
Such a special time. |
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