With the many images that flood in from the Republic of Ireland, one might think this country is deeply committed to the Christian faith. Some say a picture is worth a thousand words, but in this case a thousand words are inadequate. Ireland has a strong history of devotion to the Roman Catholic Church, even when it was illegal, but today even that devotion is only superficial. As one man at Grace Fellowship Church here in Killarney commented, it is like a dark cloud, thicker and blacker than any rain cloud that has ever covered this island. This island has become the playground of Satan.

I am reminded every night of this playground as I look out the window of my flat (apartment). Youth and adults alike flood the streets; scantily dressed and barely able to walk as they soak up the drunken culture of the land. These people can be very religious, but only for tradition’s sake. They do not know God, they know tradition.

But hope does come through churches such as Grace Fellowship. This tiny group of believers gets together every Sunday and Wednesday singing their hearts praise to God. They continually pray and thank God for the salvation which they have received, then pray it for their brothers, sisters, parents, even spouses. A wife whose husband detests the day she was baptized. A daughter whose mother has cancer and does not know Christ. A man, raised in a staunchly Catholic home, disappointing his extended family by taking his own family out of the Catholic Church to be “evangelical.”

Such is the ministry in the Republic of Ireland. Many towns here do not even have an evangelical church. Killarney is blessed with a small one, and it is this ministry that I have come to know and love, and am thus thankful for your prayers and support in sending me here. This is become just as much your ministry as it is mine. Pray for this church.

Prayer Needs:

Pray for Brian, he visited the church recently after having not been there for 10 years, and we believe he does not know Christ. He may even become a primary contact for my culture studies as he mentioned that he and I should go hiking.

Culture adjustment – Ireland may speak English, but do not let that fool you. I have sat through many conversations scratching my head trying to understand not just the accent, but also what their words meant.