Learning To Drive In Ireland

Sooooooooooooooo, the time has come for me to learn to drive here in Ireland. Normally, driving would never be a problem for me. I have actually always enjoyed driving. However, it's all the differences in driving here in Europe that have me a little uneasy about this new adventure. There's the obvious difference. . .they drive on the opposite side of the road, and then there's the fact that they drive from the opposite side of the car, and then, if that's not enough, I've never driven a stick shift. . .which is what they drive here in Ireland! My brother told me that I wouldn't have any trouble learning to drive a five speed since I ride motorcycles. He said I already have the basic knowledge of how it all works, all I have to do is transfer all that knowledge to my feet. Well, he was right! I haven't really had any trouble learning to drive stick shift, it's just getting used to all the other stuff. I did drive myself to choir practice last night. I didn't have any trouble until I hit the hill at the end of our road. Don't let anyone tell you that a little Fiat Punta won't burn rubber, especially when you're trying to get it up the hill after stalling it once. . .;o)

We are going to take our "Driving Theory Test" next week, and then we have to wait six months before we can take our actual driving test. We are going to take some driving lessons right before our final test. Apparently, the National testers have a list of driving skills that you have to be able to do if you want any chance at all of passing. The driving schools here will teach you exactly how to do those exact skills. They did tell us that most people don't pass on their first try. . .now that's encouraging!!!! Keep praying and I'll keep you posted as to my driving progress.

Our church services are going very well. We had 24 in attendance last Sunday. The people are excited and very happy to have their own church to be a part of. We will be choosing a name for the church in two weeks. Please pray that God will give us direction in this matter. We want to be sure that we choose the name that He wants for this ministry.

God did answer a huge prayer for us just recently. We had been praying that God would provide us with Hymnals for the church. We had nothing for the people to use during the song service. I was typing up the songs each week and then running 15 to 20 copies for Sunday services. Well, the Massillon Baptist Temple donated some of their old Hymnals and then two families in the church paid to have them shipped over to Ireland. Praise God. . .we received them in less than a week! In fact, we had them for our services this past Sunday. Our people were so excited and amazed. They couldn't believe that people they have never met, and probably never will meet, would be willing to go to that much effort. It's things like this that make me feel so honored, and privileged to be part of God's work here in Ireland.

First "Church Family" Get Together

Today we had our first "Church Family" get together! We had a grand time! There were a total of six people there, (including Bob and I). We shared food (duh. . .we are Baptist!),
tea (duh. . .we are in Ireland!), and lots of giggles. Our main objective for today's get together was just to get to know each other better and hopefully help them feel a little more comfortable with Bob and I.

They told us how they had been praying for God to send a preacher to Mallow. They wanted someone who believed in eternal security and preached the Bible. . .guess God answered their prayers :o)! It was so sad to listen to them tell us about how alone and lost they felt without a church or a church family to connect to. One lady told us that she has felt more alive in the last two weeks, (since we started our services), then she has felt in years. I am once again humbled, and amazed at how perfectly God orchestrated all of this. I am so thankful that God is allowing Bob and I to be a small part of what He has planned for these dear people! They truly love the Lord, and as they said today. . ."we were just waiting for you to get here".

Thank you for your prayers and support of our ministry! Despite missing our families, and our friends, there really is no place we would rather be. . .especially now that we know how long they have been waiting for someone to come.

Oh God, please keep us faithful to you!

Good Things In Ireland

Things here in Mallow Ireland, are falling into place rather nicely I must say. It has become home, and we are very happy and comfortable here. Aside from missing our daughters, family and friends, we have adjusted to living in a different country quite easily. God has continued to go ahead of us in each situation and make our transitions very easy up to this point.

We received our Immigration/Garda cards yesterday and have already gotten our "first year" visa stamp in our passports. After some of the horror stories that we had heard from other missionaries, about the hoops they had to jump though to get their stamps, we were very relieved to get ours in one trip and with no problems. The next step is to go to Cork City and get our PPSN numbers (basically, the equivalent of a Social Security Number). We will attempt to do that on Monday morning. After that is done, we will have completed all the government requirements to stay in Ireland, (other than our drivers license). At this point we do not have to check in with Immigration again until next August. Once again, God has proven to be Almighty!

Our first services are this Sunday (September 6th). We are very excited about getting the ministry off and running. We have had a number of people show an interest, but it will be exciting to see who actually shows up for the service. Please join us in fervent prayer for this service. I will write a post on Sunday afternoon to update all of you as to how things went.

Another answer to prayer for me was that I was able to join the Mallow Community Choir! This choir does a lot of singing around town and also competes in a number of choir competitions throughout Europe. I am praying that God will allow this to be a great opportunity for me to meet more people from Mallow, and also to make many new friends. More friends mean more opportunities to share the love of God.

When we came to Ireland, we told God that we would walk through every door that He opens for us. That we would take advantage of every opportunity that He brought our way to win the Irish people to Him. We are trying our best to do just that. Please pray that we will remain faithful to that vow.