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Anna's Update from
Ireland
I can hardly believe we've already
been in Ireland for three weeks! Time goes by quickly and
the Lord has been so faithful! The Kid's Clubs went well. Katie,
Mary, Noah and I teamed up with members
of a Baptist Church here ...and went
to three different neighborhoods to reach out to the kids. The Clubs are a
lot like street preaching would be - you work with whoever happens to be
there.
Some kids come consistently, but
you always have new faces greeting you as you walk onto the
pitch. Clubs usually began with a nice game of "Bulldog" or football, and then
we brought everyone together and
sang songs and taught a Bible story.
Our teaching times centered around the story of Jonah and we got to explain
three things about God - His constant presence, His promise to hear our cries
and His great
love manifested in the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. It's been
incredible to see how surprised these kids can be to hear that God is not far
away, cold and quick and eager to punish, but is rather a loving Father Who
desires an intimate relationship with each of us. You could really tell that was
a completely new concept for them. That's been the neatest thing for me to share
- that God does not want our "religion" or our "good works" - He wants us. He
wants a relationship, a friendship. The Lord gave me several opportunities
to
share this.
I was playing with one of the kids
the first week of clubs and met him again later on that week
with his dad. His dad recognized me from the club and he and I began
chatting and the Lord opened up the conversation! I was able to share the
Gospel simply and again emphasize the fact that God is interested in a
relationship with each of us. He is not impersonal, but personal.
I got another opportunity with the
neighbor kids that we play with in the evenings.It's been neat
to see the Lord open doors.
The second week of clubs were a
real blessing as well. Despite the rain kids kept
coming! A few of us got to share our testimonies with the kids which was
really cool! It's always a neat opportunity to give an account for the
hope that is in you. I was really excited because two girls from the
neighborhood we are staying in happened to be there and they got to hear our
testimonies. That was really cool! We had been hoping for
opportunities with them, and that was definitely an opportunity.
During
the two weeks of camps Mary, Katie and I got chances to
share our testimonies at two ladie's teas. That was really neat! It's been
great seeing how the Lord has really gone before us and has given us chances to
share. He is good!
Through this trip the Lord has been
teaching me a lot about Himself as well. He is so gracious and
merciful and those attributes really hit home for me after one of the
clubs. We were doing a club and some of the kids were blatantly defiant -
defiant against each other, against authority, but against God at well. It
struck me though that they were simply living out the condition my heart was in
before I came to know the Lord. Apart from Christ that's what I was - a
defiant rebel against Jesus Christ, I just hadn't had the
same
opportunity to demonstrate it. I may have been more polite
outwardly, but I was a rebel nonetheless. It amazed me though, that it was
then,when I was mocking the Lord and rebelling against Him in my heart,
that
He died for me. It was at that point when I was not for Him that He was
for me and He is for each one of those kids in those neighborhoods. We all
have the same heart condition and we are all debtors to God's mercy and
grace! It's amazing though, that if God was for us when we were His
enemies, how much more is He for us now that we belong to His Son. Like I was
saying earlier, in God we find a Father and a Friend!
Thanks so much for praying for us as
we've been in Ireland! ... You are all
appreciated!
Thanks so much!
In Him,
Anna
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