Ireland (week 1)

I love Ireland!  It has been amazing!  There is so much history in Londonderry involving conflict between Catholics and Protestants.  We are learning so much and getting a chance to interact with the youth of the city!  Everyone is so welcoming here and excited to have us here!  We do have to be very careful how we present the gospel though because this area has been so rich in religious conflict.  Even the name of the city is an issue!  We have to be careful because some people don't want to be associated with Ireland so they want it to be called Londonderry while others want it to be called Derry because they don't want to be associated with England.  It is a confusing thing that not a lot of Irish people are open about talking about because the conflict is still so very recent.

I ate fish and chips...it was really good.  There is also weird but yummy candy here that alot of the Irish kids have given us!  I will try and bring some home.  There is a store called Primark that is amazing!!  It has scarves for 1 pound!  I love it!

We are working with a church in Londonderry.  One of the challenges is that our schedule packed with ministry opportunities. Last week we worked with the high school age youth during the Identity program, and many relationships formed then are continuing this week as some of our group hang out at a local park and talk to the kids. Some of the students accepted Christ into their lives which is really cool.  This week, we’ve also started ministering to the primary age students (ages 5-11) during the evenings for the Holiday Bible Club.

Keep praying God will open opportunities for us.