Final Project Ireland Update
Aug 16, 2010
| 0 Comments | Login to commentHello everyone! Well, I’m back from Ireland and what an incredible trip it was. First of all, thank you so much for everyone’s financial and prayer support. The trip would have never happened without all of your help. Thanks to Paramount Church for all the training and support I received from you for this trip. Again, it would have never happened without such a great home church. Thank you for making the Gospel PARAMOUNT in my life. Thank you for helping me to hear, believe, enjoy, and proclaim the Gospel every day.
The Lessons I Learned
So much happened in Ireland and it feels impossible to express in words all that I experienced and all that God taught me on this trip. Part of me didn’t want to attempt to write this blog because I felt like whatever I wrote would do such an injustice to the trip. However, I would be a fool not to try to share these incredible experiences and lessons.
The greatest lesson I learned was how important the Gospel is and how few people around the world (particularly Europe) know the true Gospel. Ireland is primarily Catholic. Therefore, most of Ireland believes in justification by works. They are not trusting in Christ alone for their salvation. Probably 95% percent of the people that I talked to mentioned the Ten Commandments when I asked them about the Gospel and how to get the Heaven. This was astonishing! Person after person relying on their own effort thinking that “trying hard” was enough to please God even though they admitted to being sinners. One man in particular was trusting in his own effort and works and I showed him Ephesians 2:8-9 which says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” I stressed the idea that salvation is not by works and that we will not be able to stand before the holy, creator God and boast. Then I asked him if he still thinks that his works will save him and he emphatically said, “Yes!” I was absolutely blown away day after day by how dark this country is and how there is very little Gospel being preached.
The story of this man leads me to the second lesson that I learned. I realized that God is the one who has to open people’s eyes to see the Gospel. I could have stood there all day clearly explaining the message of the Gospel and without the Holy Spirit working in his heart he would completely miss it. 2 Corinthians 4:1-6 shows this miracle of God speaking light into people hearts to cause them to see the Gospel. These verses were heavily on my mind months before this trip. This trip confirmed the truth of these verses for me. One great thing about these verses is that it takes the pressure off of us. All we are asked to do is to perform the outward call of the Gospel. Our role is to study and proclaim the Gospel to all people. God can only perform the inward call. We cannot reach into people’s hearts and cause them to agree with and accept the message of the Gospel. Therefore, many frustrations are removed because we simply proclaim that Gospel and leave the rest up to God. After this trip I don’t see how someone could remain on the mission field without knowing this truth of Scripture.
Another related lesson that I received is to appreciate the Gospel every day. I don’t think a day went by in Ireland where I didn’t look around at the darkness and thank God for the gift of faith that He has given me. Without God opening my eyes to see the Gospel I would be just like the man that completely contradicted Scripture even when it was right in front of his face. I encourage every believer reading this to stop, read 2 Corinthians 4:1-6, and thank God for performing the miracle of verse 6 in their hearts.
There are so many other things God showed me through preaching and teaching opportunities. I also learned a great deal about sharing the Gospel with anyone and anytime. This trip truly was a life-changing experience.
The Relationships I Built
God brought many friends into my life during this trip. The people of Grace Church of New Ross are amazing. The person that had the biggest impact on my life was Tom Fanning. I have mentioned Tom in my other blogs. He is a new believer that I spent time with basically every day in Ireland. The biggest blessing of my trip was to see God reveal the truths of the Gospel to Tom every single day and to see his faith strengthened through the promises of God. We studied Scripture together almost every day. I have never spent so much time discipling someone. I was blown away by how much God taught me through this process. I truly feel Tom taught me more than I taught him. Please pray that this relationship with last for the rest of our lives and that we will never stop discussing the Gospel.
Another great relationship that I built was with a man named Gary. Gary was an older gentleman whom I met just a few weeks before I left. We talked about the Gospel about 10 times in the last couple weeks of my trip. Gary is a life-long Catholic. When I first asked him about the Gospel he immediately went to the Ten Commandments. However, through many discussions centered on the Gospel he began to articulate the Gospel with a greater focus on Christ. I don’t know if God regenerated Gary’s heart, but I strongly believe that the Gospel was beginning to make sense to him. He agreed more and more every time that we talked. He came to the last couple Tuesday night Bible studies that we had and he even opened his home so we could meet for the last two Bible studies. I don’t think it would be a stretch to assume that this was the first time that the Gospel was discussed in Gary’s home. Some of the people of Grace Church have built a great relationship with him, so please continue to pray for Gary, as he desperately needs more access to the Gospel.
Other people to pray for would be Francis, a local priest named Joe McGrath, Abraham, Joshua, Liam, all the members of Grace Church, etc. Tom has a good relationship with everyone that I have spoken of so pray for more opportunities for Tom to share the Gospel with these people.
If anyone feels God might be calling them into missions please consider working with Grace Church of New Ross. Contact Miles Mckee at milesmckee.com. Although this trip was unbelievable, as of right now I don’t feel God calling me back to Ireland full-time. Please continue to pray for the people of Ireland and for God to call more and more people to minister in Ireland. Also pray that I would have the boldness to leave America if God does call me to the mission field.
Again thank you so much to everyone who contributed to this trip. You played a major role into this life-changing experience.
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