iBunch

A Thought From the Message

2009-08-04T03:52:00.003+01:00

I read this passage in The Message translation, and it really gave me a perspective shift. It's from Romans 12:1-2:

So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

I love that - place your everyday life before God as an offering.

And also - God wants to bring out the best in us. Unlike the culture.

Isn't that so true? Our culture just seems to drag us all down to the lowest common denominator (think reality t.v.). But God wants us to always improve and be the best we can be.

iBunch is Back

2009-08-02T05:57:00.003+01:00

Well, Farrah has turned the blogging over to.....me! So you'll notice a lot of changes and a more masculine flare to the look of the blog. It's a work in progress, so I'm sure it will change.

My head is still spinning when I try to sort out our life over the past year....we literally lived in Northern Ireland this time last year. As in - we took up residence there. And now we've taken up residence here in Louisiana. Hmmm.....I am certain that God knows what He is up to, even though we can't always see.

You can follow us on twitter....

twitter.com/davbunch

And on Facebook....

facebook.com/davebunch

I know, I know, one has an "e" and one doesn't...guess I'm a little neurotic or something.

Til next time,

Dave

This and That

2009-07-05T06:59:00.000+01:00

We enjoyed Louisiana District camp meeting on Thursday and Friday of last week. It is so awesome to worship with thousands of saints who are like minded and to hear the Word of God go fourth from anointed men of God and to fellowship with friends and family from all around. Needless to say, we enjoyed our time on the campgrounds.

Happy Birthday America! We had a bday party for America (well, we celebrated 4th of July) with some friends tonight. Last year, was our biggest 4th of July party ever. It was in Northern Ireland with Shawna Mansfield, Ashley & Caleb McFarland, Nathaniel Davis, Kyle and Lynn Harvey family, and Eamon and wife. Wow! That seems like a life-time ago...but was so much fun! Was it all a dream?! It sure does seem like it.

We are in the process of buying the house that we are leasing. Please pray that God makes a way where there seems to be no way. You have to be employed for 2 years before you can mortgage a house. Well, of course David and I have years of work experience, but they consider our time in Ireland as an interruption in work. Therefore, they are giving us a wee bit of a hard time about the loan. God is so able! We are claiming this house in Jesus name!

Check out Sister Cindy McFarland's new blog (linked on our page).

Elayna , Springbreak, Work, & Ireland

2009-04-16T15:29:00.005+01:00

I have to give God the credit. Elayna had her big doctor's appointment yesterday to check her kidneys. She has gone from a stage 4 reflux (5 being the biggest) to a stage 2! Thank you Lord! Initially, the doctor believed that she would have to have surgery eventually. Now, he really thinks that the problem will correct itself. We are praising God for it! We serve an awesome and able God!

The kids and I are enjoying the week off for Spring break....checking things off of the "to do" list, spending time in the yard, enjoying a slower pace. 4 1/2 more weeks of school before Summer break!

Meanwhile, David started his new job this week. He is loving it. More relaxed than what he is used to. But I'm sure that it won't take him long to get use to it.

I see from the March's blog that the McFarlands are all headed back to the states. Shawna McFarland is moving to Alexandria, Louisiana to work with Sharon Turner (counselor) at the Pentecostals of Alexandria church. We are so excited for her!

It sounds like great things are happening in Ireland. Oh how we do miss it there in a million ways. But we know that God has us back here for His purpose. We keep Ireland in our hearts and prayers!

Happy Spring break week!

Happy Easter Pics

2009-04-16T03:40:00.007+01:00

Work, Guitars, and Remodeling

2009-04-06T12:44:00.003+01:00

I have a job teaching for the rest of the year, and David starts a new job April 13th! Thank you Lord!

Brother Ford from our church made two AWESOME electric guitars to donate to the work of God in Ireland. I am so sad to say that I don't have pictures of them. They are beautiful. One of them is an Ireland green color. I will try and get some pictures if they have not been mailed yet. Thank you Brother and Sister Ford! I know that the church(es) there needs these and will be blessed by them.

David is remodeling the blog soon. Watch for changes.

The Master

2009-03-13T03:33:00.004Z

Wonderful youth service last night! David preached about "Being Crafted by The Master." Isn't it awesome that God created us for who we are and that He loves us even with our imperfections?

We didn't get to have our split out session. It's coming up next week, hopefully.

Everytime I Turn Around He is Making a Way

2009-03-09T04:04:00.002Z

We had great church tonight! The youth choir "tore it up" tonight followed by an awesome word from Pastor Billy Johnson. It is services like this that keep reminding you of just how Mighty our God is!

If you are reading this blog, then you are just about to get the inside scoop. Are you ready for this? The following information will not be officially announced until this coming Wednesday night in youth service. Last week David was asked to come on staff at our church as Young Adult Pastor. This will cover the age group range from 11th grade to college and career. (Brother Chris Gonzales will be over the junior high to 10th grade group.) We are very much excited about this opportunity. As most of you know, we have been working in the youth group in Denham for approximately 8 years now. It is exciting to be a big part of this group of young people again. We love working/mentoring youth.

And that is why we brought our whole family (babies included) to the youth retreat this weekend. 2 days at Twin Lakes in Mississippi. It was a wonderful retreat filled with, most importantly- an awesome move of God, plus- loads of fun, and great fellowship. As for the babies, they actually did really good. The only problem was that they are way too nosey to sleep. They didn't go to bed until everyone else did. Yikes! It was really nice reconnecting with the youth group. There were tons of new faces for us to get to know. That is a good sign of revival! I believe that there were 160 registered there as part of our group. That is awesome!

I unfortunately forgot my camera so I don't have any pictures to share. I'll try and retrieve a few from some of the youth soon to upload.

We are looking forward to our new assignment in life, our next journey...giving what we can offer to the youth group at First UPC in Denham Springs, developing young people, teaching them to reach for a deeper and daily spiritual walk with our Lord and Saviour, a love for the truth, encouraging them, and loving them through their circumstances! Wow! Is anyone else feeling the heaviness of such a task? What a big responsibility for which to be trusted. We are praying for the anointing that we know is necessary for such a position.

Blah Blog

2009-03-01T03:49:00.003Z

I'm quite taken aback when I reflect on some of my recent blogs. They are definitely "blah blogs". So, I have decided to attempt to write an uplifting blog.

On the upside, our children are adjusting wonderfully to being back home.

Dawson is now without a pacifier and attends Sunday school (even on Wed. nights, hey, he can call it whatever he wants. LOL). He spends the night with David's parents (Emme and Poppie) often. I'm pretty sure that he'd be happy to move in there. Who wouldn't when you get the kind of attention that he gets over there?

Elayna puts herself to sleep in less than one minute of crying and sleeps ALL night in her own bed. David and I never thought we'd sleep the night through again. She has been responding nicely to her antibiotic. Thank you Lord!

And Kristen is doing AWESOME in school. She made all A's and 1 B on her last interim. She hasn't done that well since 6th grade. Go Kristen! She has her first job and her first bank account (with a cute Batman card). So, exciting.

As I mentioned in the blog below, David has a job that we are really optimistic about.

And I am feeling like things are really starting to come together! God is good all the time!

Looking Up

2009-03-01T03:27:00.003Z

I just want to thank you all for your prayers and words of encouragement. Things are really looking up for us. David has been offered a job working with a local business owner as his office manager for the next 30 days. The position may turn into full-time, but at least for now our bills will be paid. Thank you Lord!

Opportunity

2009-02-21T14:28:00.005Z

Right now, David and I are waiting. Anxiously waiting to be hired on somewhere. And eagerly waiting to see what God has for us next. David says that this is, "An opportunity to extend our faith." I sarcastically reply, "Oh, thank you Lord. As if selling our house, quitting our jobs, and moving our family (with a baby, toddler, and teenager) across the world isn't showing faith and then moving back in only 9 short months." I know that David is right, but it isn't easy. We are trusting and believing the Lord will provide. I know that He is able! God has blessed us with a house. I know that He will bless us with jobs in order to pay for the house. God must have something REALLY wonderful for us because so far every door that we have heard about has been closed. No, every door has been practically slammed in our faces. The kind of slam when you are just far enough behind someone that you don't have time to catch the door. "A day late and a dollar short." Well, the reality is that such an opportunity to extend this kind of faith is our reality right now. So, we persevere. We thank the Lord. And we wait. "For those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. "

Over the River and through the Woods

2009-02-15T01:20:00.003Z

Two more days before we leave this beautiful Emerald Isle and head to the wonderful land so affectionately none as the Melting Pot. And literally over the river (well ocean) and through the woods (of the great Cajun state of Louisiana). Louisiana might not have the best of reputations, but you know those people can have church. After all, it is the "Bible Belt."

Kyle's daughter Sasha is to be baptized at church tomorrow! To God be the glory. After service in Gilford, we head on down to the Republic to have church in Dublin. It is a work that Brother McFarland has been elected pastor of only in the last couple of months. It sounds like great things are happening there. We are looking forward to be in service with them.

Our wonderful Gillaine is trading Ireland for Indiana in the next week. She has felt the call to go and work there with the homeless ministry. Wow! That is awesome.

Several of the men here in Ireland are heading to Men's conference in Illinois next week. Kyle will be opening the service with his bagpipes. That is really going to be a blessing to the conference.

And with that I leave you the latest in greatest.

4 days to go

2009-02-12T15:06:00.004Z

We are wrapping up our tenure here in Ireland. We now have only 4 short days to go.

I think that we are pretty much done with all of the major packing and moving out. Now we have only to organize and reorganize our luggage to try and get as much home as we can. It is amazing what you can live without when it comes right down to it. It is also amazing at how much junk you can collect in 9 months time. Yikes! The good thing is that the church is going to have a "boot sale" (aka garage sale) to raise money for a new Sunday school room. Hopefully, they'll make a good bit off of our collection. 'One man's junk is another man's treasure.'

Yesterday, we enjoyed the company of Lynn and Kyle who had us over for lunch. It was so wonderful to visit with them. They are an awesome family. We are really going to miss them!

We had a surprise potluck dinner as our midweek service. We really enjoyed the food and fellowship. I'm glad that it wasn't too much of a production as it would have been hard to refrain from tears. My heart is heavy for the church here in Ireland.

Today, the guys moved everything out of the house except for mattresses. Thanks for you help!

Shawna Mansfield is headed back to Ireland in May. Shawna, we will miss being here with you!

Tomorrow is mine and David's 10 year anniversary. We shall hopefully do something fun. But no definite plans yet.

All the Best!

Belfast

2009-02-07T21:56:00.003Z

We arrived back in Belfast today. The flights were pretty much smooth. The only problem that we had is that Elayna cried/fussed for probably nearly 4 hours crossing the ocean. The only thing that I can imagine is that her ears must have been hurting her. Poor baby! She has never done that before. We need to start praying now that the trip back will be better.

It is great to see this beautiful country again. There was snow on the ground when we arrived. I asked one of the locals if it was unusual to have snow. She replied, "Oh yeah, we almost never get snow for Christmas. It only snows in Feb., March, and April." Whew! What a big reminder of our communication differences. I don't understand how you can speak the same language as someone else but still not be able to communicate! I mean, if you study that conversation, where did I go wrong? I just don't get it. Oh well. It is laughable though.

We are also very happy to see the McFarland's again. They are doing well. Sister Mac is feeling much better. She hasn't had any signs of a blood clot. We are believing that it is finally completely gone. Thank you Jesus!

We had kind of forgotten just how "at home" we feel here. We certainly will find ourselves "homesick" when we return to the states.

I should really be sleeping right about now. This blog might not even make sense! So, I'll post more later.

Going back to Ireland

2009-02-01T05:49:00.006Z

We are getting ready to set sail for Ireland again tomorrow. My surrogate brother, Bradley, and his wife, Jaime, are coming with us. They already had this trip planned before we made the decision to come back to America a few weeks early. It is going to be great having them there with us.

On that note, we are really going to have a hard time leaving Ireland when it come right down to boarding that plane for our final departure for this season of our lives. We absolutely love Ireland and are going to miss so much about working for God's kingdom there.

Meanwhile, we have been trying to setup house again here in Louisiana. This is not an easy thing to do with no job. David has been searching diligently for a job. Things almost fell into place for him to get a job with his previous employer, but for some reason it didn't work out. Yikes! We are praying for God to send that perfect job for him. In the mean time, he is getting certified to be a financial consultant. He loves that. It is flexible hours. But let's be honest, it is also flexible income. We can't be making a living off of flexible income with a family of five.

God has blessed us with our dream house. We are slowly but surely furnishing it. It just so happened that a couple from our church had this house up for sale by owner. They have offered to let us lease purchase the house until we are able to finance it. Thank you Jesus! He always provides for His children!

We are looking forward to continuing our work for God on this side of the ocean. Who knows what wonderful things He has in store for us?? I know that God will not fail us now. He is More than enough. He will supply ALL our needs. He always looks out for us. He is a rewarder of those that deligently seek Him!

Season of Life

2009-01-21T05:46:00.006Z

I'm having to post this blog all too soon....

Long story short: David and I were feeling that God was leading us back to Louisiana after our tenure in Ireland was up. However, Elayna got sick when we came home for Christmas and through much prayer we made the decision to end our appointment 6 weeks early. We are scheduled to return to Ireland for 10 days in February to wrap everything up.

Long story:

Am I really bummed? Yes! It is definitely bitter sweet. We LOVED working with the McFarland's. And we LOVE Ireland. There is no doubt that we were supposed to go to Ireland. I believe that God had us there for the summer for a reason.

I never dreamed that we would be back so soon. David and I both went into this assuming it to be a long term decision.

When God says to go, we must go. When He says to stay, we must stay. We have to be sensitive to His voice. I know that God has a reason for this. I'm sure that I don't know all of them, but I can already see some things that God has done since we have returned.

We are praying for Ireland! And who knows, maybe one day we'll have the opportunity to return. We now understand the importance of prayer for other countries more than ever.

Thanks to EVERYONE who has contributed to the Ireland work through us! We could never have heeded to God's voice without your prayers and financial support. I'm sure that if you would like to continue with any financial offerings you can donate to the March family or to the McFarland family.

To the McFarland's, the March's, and our church family in Ireland, we miss you lots already! You will always be in our thoughts and prayers. Thanks for allowing us to spend this season of life with you, and may we all meet again in eternity (if not sooner). We love you all bunches!

God Bless!

We'll continue to post blogs throughout our transition so that you can keep up with us and pray for us.

Elayna's Bday

2009-01-05T05:32:00.002Z

Elayna's 1st birthday was last Sunday, Dec. 28th. Here is a picture of her enjoying her cake.

God's work in Ireland

2009-01-05T05:18:00.003Z

David was privileged to preach tonight at our home church in Denham Springs about God's great work in Ireland. We had a wonderful service as David shared with God's people the marvelous things that are taking place on the Emerald Isle.

I wish that someone who is there would blog more often (ahem) or even blog at all (ahem ahem). I feel like we are missing so much. (I guess that is how you all feel when we don't blog regularly. Sorry!)

It snowed here in Baton Rouge the week before Christmas. The most snow that we have had in 50 years. I thought that our Ireland crew would appreciate a picture of it. This is my in-law's neighbor's house. It was a winter wonder land. Too bad that it wasn't like this on Christmas day. We have crazy weather here.

Favorite New Year Story

2009-01-02T00:40:00.002Z

My favorite wacky new years story is one told by Gordon Mallory who was a former missionary to the Philippines.

He said that once he was in a watch night service, ushering in the new year by worshipping and praying with fellow believers. Right about midnight, tongues went forth so everyone immediately began seeking God for the interpretation.

After a moment, someone spoke up and said the following:

"Thus saith the Lord, HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

So that's my word to everyone today. The Good Lord wants you to have a happy new year!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T19:17:00.002Z

Happy New Year to our friends and family!

We are so excited about what this year holds for us. I've made up a great quote, "Everything will be Fine in 2009!" David's quote is, "Bring on the 'New Wine' in 2009." We are so original. No, Please hold the applause. :)

Elayna goes to the specialist on Wed. Hopefully, we'll know what caused her relapse and be able to go from there.

We are really missing our church family in Ireland. We are scheduled to fly back Jan. 9th. I know that there are exciting things happening in that beautiful country.

Home for the Holidays Update

2008-12-23T02:54:00.004Z

Happy Holidays to all of you!

We are really enjoying being home with friends and family. Thanks to everyone who was sure to speak to us at church. We love you all and hope that you have a wonderful Christmas!

We have been really busy visiting with as many people as we can since we have arrived.

Today we had to bring Elayna to the doctor. She has been running fever for 3 days. She has another Urinary Tract Infection due to reflux to the kidney. The doctor said that it is measured in small, medium, and large. Using that scale, Elayna's infection is a large. Poor baby. She had to have an antibiotic shot. Depending on how tonight goes, she may have to have another shot tomorrow.

Dawson, too, has been sick, but Lord willing he will sleep through the night tonight with no complications. He seemed to be feeling better today.

Kristen has been offered a chance to go back to school. (Long story short, she didn't get into school in Ireland and has really missed it.) She will be staying with my surrogate parents, Bobby & Shirley McDonald (Paw Paw and Mimi), for the 8 weeks that we return to Ireland. Kristen is sooo excited! Although, she has admitted that she will miss those that she has befriended in Ireland.

It sounds like we are missing exciting things in Ireland! For one, the container FINALLY came in! That is so exciting. We can't wait to see what we put on it..because we certainly don't remember...lol. And for two, we missed a service in Dublin where a new work has been started. We can't wait to hear all about it!

Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night!

Christmas Poetry!

2008-12-02T22:19:00.002Z

Charlie Lowell of the band Jars of Clay has launched a blog in which he shares a Christmas poem each day leading up to Christmas. So far they have all been thought provoking and from authors I am not familiar with (I always enjoy the discovery of writers and poets). You can read his blog by clicking here.

Thoughts on the Weekend Service

2008-12-01T08:16:00.002Z

The ministerial staff were glad to be back in service at Greater Life yesterday! We had a great service with a good crowd. As Pastor McFarland preached, I surveyed the crowd and was so excited to see all of the different nationalities represented. There was a family from Poland, a young lady from France, and our regular saints from the Philippines, Ghana, England, and Kenya. God is pouring out his spirit among the nations!

A Great Thanksgiving Week In Scotland

2008-12-01T08:00:00.004Z

We had a great time in Scotland last week. We had district minister's meetings at New Life Church in Glasgow (Bro and Sis Robert Kelley, pastor), and we stayed over a few days in order to celebrate Thanksgiving with other Americans in the area. We also had the opportunity to visit some of Scotland's finest castles, including Edinburgh Castle.

The Kelley's were wonderful hosts and even though we were not home for Thanksgiving Day, being with them and all of the great people at the Bible College made it seem like we were with a big family. We had great food and fun.

Here are some pictures from the week:

Thanksgiving Day Fellowship

Edinburgh Castle

Stirling Castle

Ministers' Banquet at District Meeting

Starbucks, Church, Thoughts?

2008-11-20T22:40:00.002Z

I came across this video today called "What if Starbucks marketed like the church?" It's good fodder for thought and discussion. It comes from a blog called Beyond Relevance.

Good Things Happening; Exciting Week Coming Up

2008-11-20T21:59:00.002Z

God continues to work in Ireland! For the last three services Pastor McFarland has been away taking care of some important things, so it was my turn again to bring the Word! I'm always amazed at how God always lights us up with the Word for the moment and then orchestrates the service to accomplish His work. Yea God!

On Sunday a family from Poland visited our church. They have little Christian background and spoke very limited English. It was a neat experience to get to know them a little and to start planting seed in their heart. We could tell they were touched by the service and the love from the church family.

And speaking of family, God directed me to speak to our families last night. In this critical moment in time, there has never been a more pressing need to build our families around Jesus Christ. The Scripture says that it was the wise man who built his house upon the rock. While everything in this world is being shaken, the homes that are built on the Rock are going to stand strong.

I shared with the church my memories of having "family devotion" as a child with my family every Monday night. And sometimes my mom would get particularly spiritual and take me and my brother through the house on a victory march! I can remember thinking, "if the kids at school could see me now...". But you know what? Here I am 20 years later and those moments have never left me. Now the challenge is mine to pass on to my children.

One final note, tomorrow we leave for a week in Scotland. We will be attending the district minister's meetings, visiting the Glasgow church and Bible School (Bro and Sis Robert Kelley pastor/missionary) and then spending Thanksgiving day with the Kelley's and other Americans in the district. It's going to be a great time. People keep using the words "visit" and "Edinburgh" and "castle" in the same context, whatever that's all about. : )

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2008-11-17T21:59:00.002Z

The Christmas season is officially here in Northern Ireland. Of course, they don't celebrate Thanksgiving here. Therefore, Christmas decorations go up after Halloween. We have been listening to Christmas music and trying to pick up a few gifts to take back home with us. There will be no Christmas tree for us this year as we are leaving the first week in December to head back to Louisiana. We are fully relying on the Christmas trees and decorations of our friends and family at home.

Actually, someone at church said that they don't put their decorations up until after Thanksgiving (even though they don't celebrate it). I don't know. But decorations are up in stores and Christmas music is playing. We are in the mood for the most wonderful time of the year!!

More Miracles!

2008-11-06T07:35:00.001Z

On Saturday evening Pastor McFarland received word that his father, who lives in Oregon, had a massive heart attack and was on life support. Simultaneously, Sis McFarland's father was undergoing major surgery in Florida.

On Sunday, the church prayed. On Monday the reports came back that Bro Mac's father was completely off of the life support, was walking around talking, and will probably be released from the hospital next week. Then we found out that when the doctor's opened up Sis Mac's father, they found nothing of the condition for which he was undergoing surgery!

Is God good or what? I'm telling you, He is still working miracles.

November Is Here

2008-11-06T07:15:00.003Z

Has another month already come and gone? It's amazing how fast time passes. It seems like October just arrived, that I had my 32nd birthday, that we were enjoying the beautiful fall colors....and now it's November and things seem more winter-like every day.

We rolled our clocks back an hour (as a matter of trivia, we performed this ritual one week earlier than the US) and that has meant that it is getting darker earlier.

It also means that it is time to give you a summary of what God did in Ireland during October!

Holy Spirit Outpouring
Gillaine was filled with the Holy Spirit at the beginning of the month. It was so amazing to watch her being born into the Kingdom knowing that six months prior she had no knowledge of what this New Birth was all about. God is still pouring out His Spirit on all flesh!

James and Eve are a precious Apostolic couple from Dublin who have been driving up here to the North to attend services. They rent a room of their house out to a girl from France named Florence. She visited with James and Eve and showed interest in the things of God. Pray for Florence.

Staff Meetings
We began a formal series of staff meetings, aligning our goals, priorities, job descriptions, roles, etc. We had a great time brainstorming and organizing the various ministries from the ground up.

College Ministry Launched
Speaking of "ground", we launched our college ministry, called "Grounded", in October. We meet weekly at Starbucks for a time of Bible Study and fellowship geared to the college level. Why meet at Starbucks? Well, it appears that God is opening a door for us there. Shawna works at Starbucks and as she began to share with her staff and managers about Greater Life, they became very interested and wanted to offer Starbucks as a place for us to meet and have Bible Study. The manager told us that she would be willing to close the Starbucks one evening and then re-open it after ours just for us! The only thing is we'd need a crowd large enough to justify the re-opening. So this opens up all kinds of possibilities for outreach/youth services/meetings, etc! Who wouldn't want to go to a "youthy" type meeting at Starbucks?

Communion Service
We had a phenomenal Communion Service this month. In Ireland, like many of the churches in the States, they would tend to have communion each week. We choose to partake of communion less often, in order to underscore the importance of the service. We spent time in prayer and fasting to prepare ourselves for the service and God showed up in a big way. Many prayers were answered and lives were touched.

Now we have high expectations for November! Keep praying for Ireland!

Let It Snow!

2008-10-29T09:25:00.000Z

We are having very cold weather (temperatures in the 30s and 40s) with a so called Arctic Blast that hit the UK. And yesterday we had snow! That's right, it snowed for about an hour and a little bit even stuck on the fences, cars, etc.

You can imagine the excitement we had when we saw the snow! We were running around looking for Christmas music, and Dawson kept asking where the Christmas presents were!

I believe Farrah took some good pictures of the snow event, so hopefully we'll have those posted soon.

Work, Work, Work

2008-10-29T09:19:00.002Z

Last week we stayed busy constructing a drainage system in the back of the parsonage/church. There was a lot of water damage to the building due to a leak as well as rain water seeping in under the foundation. So our nice fresh drainage system should cast out the water like Apostolics casting out devils!

On Thursday we worked late into the night because rain was coming and we needed to finish in order to avoid an absolute mud hole!

It was hard work, but we had fun - especially with the heavy equipment!

Miracles!

2008-10-23T10:27:00.003+01:00

God is on the move! We have several miracles to report and we are all rejoicing over the victories God is giving to us.

Timo
By now I imagine most of you have heard but I did want to take a moment and celebrate with the Simoneauxs over Timo's healing at General Conference. (You can click here to read their blog). As you remember, Timo contracted bacterial meningitis last summer, and we brought his need to you through this blog. God did a great work in Timo's life, but his hearing was still affected from the sickness. Last week at General Conference God touched Timo's hearing - much too his doctor's amazement. Thank you, Jesus!

Eamon
Our own Bro Eamon testified Sunday that his wife Pauline (who is a recovered cancer patient) had signs that the cancer might have returned. Between the time she received this news and the time she was to go for more tests, they prayed in the Name of Jesus. She went for those tests and the doctors found nothing! She remains cancer free. Praise God!

Paul

l

Bro Paul also testified Sunday that he had been praying that God would work it out with his job that he would be able to attend church regularly. In the past couple of weeks, God has given him a brand new position that allows him to be at every service. He told me that this is a better position and that his managers are very pleased with his performance. God is awesome!

October Spice

2008-10-19T22:20:00.006+01:00

We had a great day in Belfast on Monday celebrating David's humahum (you have to guess) birthday.

We ate at an American Chili's. It was pretty much the same as home. They even had ice tea (so I heard...they never did bring mine out...I couldn't be bothered with reminding them. I think they were nervous about serving Americans in the advertised American style restaurant).

We later walked around a great indoor/outdoor mall. It was really nice.

And on the way out of town, David found a really nice used book store. Anyone that has ever talked to David for 5 minutes knows that this would make for the end of a great day!

The rest of the week was spent getting Tara and Riley a car, working at the church, and ministering to Lynne and family. Lynne's dad passed away this week. Please keep Lynne in your prayers. She was a daddy's girl and is having a hard time.

David and I are really enjoying teaching the Jr. High/High School aged kids Sunday School. I have been trying to cook some for the Mac's since they have no kitchen right now. And I have also been serving as a Taxi driver when needed.

Kristen has been helping out with the toddler aged kids (Whew! I'm so glad to be out of there.) She is also our sound booth girl. Her main job is to keep the words to the songs going on the projector. She and Gillaine do a good job at this!

David has also been playing the bass at church. A lost art of his that he has been happy to rediscover. And he is learning to do lots of handy man things around the church and the McFarland's house.

We are scheduled to go over to Scotland in November for some minister meetings. We will also celebrate Thanksgiving there with the Kellys.

Then, we are headed home for Christmas. David is going to narrate the Christmas program in Denham as he did last year. We will be home for 3 weeks!

And then we are headed back to Ireland until the end of February at which time we have to go back to America. We are planning to return to Ireland as soon as God provides!

Lots of Love from Ireland!

Happy Birthday David!

2008-10-19T22:06:00.007+01:00

This is a little late....HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVID!!!

Here is a trip down memory lane of some fun times that God has blessed us with while serving Him in Ireland.

Wonderful Week

2008-10-12T22:01:00.003+01:00

We've had a great week here at Greater Life UPC. Wednesday night was "acoustic worship" with the guitar and we really had a great worship service. We really caught a wave of the Spirit and were all blessed in the worship service. Pastor Mac had asked me to preach, and I felt God wanted me to speak about pressing toward the mark - despite present obstacles. A great altar service finished out the evening.

Friday night we travelled down to Dublin to James and Eve Owens' home to begin the initial planning of the home group there. We had a great planning session, and of course, great food. Eve is Filipino, so she served us a delicious, traditional meal from the Philippines. Very soon, we'll have a vibrant home group going in Dublin!

Having a great meal and a great time at James and Eve's home.

James and Eve

Today (Sunday) we had our second Youth/Junior High Sunday School class. Farrah and I are teaching it and we had a blast. I think the kids did too! At various points today we had paper airplanes going, rapping of original poetry, and some artwork. And in the middle of all that we taught the truth of God's word that a relationship with Jesus Christ brings love, peace, and a sound mind. It strikes me that if you really break it down, those are the three things that this world is searching for most - and we know the Answer!

Power of Prayer

2008-10-05T17:46:00.001+01:00

Hello from the Ireland Gang! (All 15 Americans except for Sister Mac who was taking the picture.)

We have been having AWESOME services. Thankfully, we know how to have church. It is so nice to worship with "Seasoned Saints." There is so much power in a church full of Holy Ghost filled believers.

We serve an AWESOME God!!

You wouldn't believe the spiritual battles that need to be fought here due to the lack of spirit filled people praying daily in this country. I now realize how blessed that America is due to the prayers prayed everyday by Holy Ghost filled saints! Please plead the blood of Jesus over Ireland when you pray. We could use some extra prayer!!!

Shawna Mansfield once said that though Ireland is not a 3rd world country physically, it is spiritually. The people here need the truth for the truth SHALL set them FREE. Thanks Shawna for sharing that bit of wisdom!

Revival!

2008-10-02T09:56:00.002+01:00

I am very happy to announce that Gillaine got the Holy Ghost last night! God is AWESOME! It was the sweetest thing to hear her speaking in tongues. She was glowing after church. You may remember that she was baptized two Sundays ago.

Last night turned into one of those services where God took control and there was no preaching. It was one POWERFUL prayer meeting.

We are definitely having revivial in Ireland!

Keep up the good Prayers! We are seeing results!

A Barely Beard

2008-09-29T18:56:00.003+01:00

I thought this article on beards that appeared in yesterday's Irish Times was interesting. Among other interesting uses of the beard, it notes that Celtic warriors used the beard to incite fear in the enemy:

In fact, the country's fascination with Tyrone's beards may have something to do with a cultural collective memory of the hirsute and snarling Celtic warriors described by quivering Roman legionnaires. Or perhaps they just remind us of watching Braveheart.

But what struck me most is the author's colorful description of the current trend of wearing stubble, or something just beyond:

The beard is actually something of a fashion on the street at the moment. A city stroll confirms this, although it's clear that the trend is towards a barely beard, only a couple of days' growth ahead of a George Michael. They are trimmed, neat, tight to the face. They do not look as if you could lose your lunch in there.

A "barely beard"! Gotta love the Irish way with words.

Misc.

2008-09-28T23:13:00.003+01:00

Autumn is quickly seizing us here in Northern Ireland, which is okay with me because autumn is my favorite time of year. By night fall temperatures are dropping into the forties and the leaves are turning beautiful colors (some are already falling).

Sunday school is absolutely rippin' under the direction of Farrah, Ashley, and Shawna. Today they had 20 kids. I don't know why it took the area kids all summer to realize Caleb was back home, but he has finally registered on their radar and they are packing the place out. They are all around 10-12 years old and each one is absolutely precious. Pray for them.

We are happy to welcome the Riley March family from Doniphan, Missouri. This young family of five has joined us in Northern Ireland and are kindred spirits. God has assembled a strategic team and we are all bubbling with excitement over the potential of the near future.

Here are a few pictures that I'd like to share.

A puppet show during Sunday School. Notice all the kids!

Sunday School is fun

I guess she was praying and got caught away in the Spirit! She was actually being much more closely guarded than this picture makes it seem.

You walk out the front doors of the church and this is the view - yes, it is a rural area. And not all of the trees have changed colors yet, so don't think I was exaggerating about Autumn. Some trees are still very green!

Anniversary Services

2008-09-28T23:00:00.003+01:00

What an incredible weekend we have had in celebration of the McFarland's 10th anniversary. That means they've been in Northern Ireland 10 years, and consequently Greater Life UPC has been in existence for 10 great years.

We had a fantastic banquet last night - the entire sanctuary was re-arranged and re-decorated and became a beautiful banquet hall. Of course, that meant it had to be converted back to a church by this morning, but we made it happen!

Today we had a great service in which Bro Robert Rodenbush ministered and conducted the ordination of Pastor McFarland. After a great time around the altar after the ministry of the Word, Kyle played his bagpipes as a kind of Irish tribute to the McFarlands. He ended with a stirring version of Amazing Grace and I'm telling you the Holy Spirit came into the place in a mighty way.

We enjoyed fellowshipping with Bro Rodenbush and Bro Francis (General Superintendent of the UPCI of Great Britain and Ireland) over lunch at Diamond's restaurant in Warrenpoint (just on the border).

An exhausting yet exhilarating day!

A full house!

Besides yours truly, there is Rev. Joe Cooney, Rev. Robert Rodenbush, Pastor Terry McFarland, Bishop Francis, and Rev. Riley March.

Three Have Been Baptized!

2008-09-28T22:47:00.004+01:00

Where has this week gone? We were busy this week getting ready for anniversary services and now that those are in the rearview mirror we're taking a few minutes to recompose ourselves and our blog!

It's late on a Sunday night here in Northern Ireland, but I am so excited about what God is doing that I told Farrah I was going to stay up and post blogs on everything tonight. We want all of you to share in the joy of the harvest.

Last Sunday Kyle, Gillaine, and Kirsty were all baptized in Jesus Name! Wow! We've been working with this family all summer and they are the ones that had us over for a Bible Study just a couple of weeks ago. Look what God is doing:

Kyle

Gillaine

Kirsty

Dawson, Micah, Faith - 3 future baptism candidates!

Thank you Jesus for changing lives and families in Northern Ireland.

Riding in a Porsche

2008-09-28T22:40:00.003+01:00

Our neighbour, Jonny, took Dawson and me out for a spin in his father's Porsche Carrerra! We really had a nice time in this baby. I've always admired Porsches from afar, but never had the chance to be on the inside of the machine. Dawson said the engine noise and vibration hurt his ears, but otherwise we were loving it! Thanks Jonny!

Check in, Check up

2008-09-20T06:34:00.003+01:00

Well, it has been a long time since I've posted a blog. Not intentional of course. Life just has a way of revving up and moving ahead at a fast pace.

I do want to take a minute to tell you that God is definitely working and our church is poised for some great things.

We began a Bible Study class at Lynn and Kyle's house last Friday and we had eight people in attendance. Lynn and Kyle are ready to be baptized in Jesus Name! Lynn told me the Bible Study (which was on the infilling of the Holy Spirit - the New Birth) was music to her ears.

This past Sunday Pastor Mac gave his testimony and there were numerous visitors in attendance. So the word is out about Greater Life Church and people are coming to see what it is all about!

God is blessing the Bunch family! One really fantastic couple, Geoffrey and Rita, brought us a stand alone freezer which they were not using. Geoffrey said that he was going to come the next evening to check on it and make sure it worked, which I thought was kind of strange. The next evening, he and Rita showed up with two large grocery bags filled with frozen foods. Geoffrey said, "You've got a freezer now so you need something to put in it"!

They also brought flowers for Farrah and sweeties (candy) for the kids. I told them that I've heard about stuff like that but had never been on the receiving end. But being on the receiving end sure felt good! Thank God for unexpected blessings!

Cheers, Cheerio, All the best.

Upon Request...And Shame On Me

2008-09-18T22:42:00.000+01:00

I'm writing this blog upon request and shame on me for not writing one sooner (thanks for the nudge Jaime I really needed that).

We have been busy. Doing what? Hmmm? Oh yes, the Macs kitchen has been completely torn out. They found that there was mold under all of the cabinets. Come to find out the sink wasn't draining properly (I think). Their washroom has also been pulled apart. Do you know what that means? It means that none of us has been able to do laundry there. So, we are back to using our small washer (which can't keep up). It literally takes 2 hours to wash a small load of maybe 15 items. But, I don't want to complain. At least we have something!

Today, David and Caleb worked on painting the brick wall outside and spraying the weeds in the parking lot. Hard at work!

Kristen and Ashley used their manly muscles to move monster tables into the church for the anniversary services that are not this weekend but next. Whew! That was hard work. Good going girls! They demanded the rest of the day off, but we just had too much to do.
(Kristen says "Hello world.")

Shawna pressure washed the outside of the church while dodging spiders. That was not a fun job, but she sure looked cute!

I worked on cleaning the church while chasing Elayna and Dawson. I also started getting the AIM quarters ready for the March's to stay in when they first arrive. Thanks again to the ladies from Indiana who were here this summer and cleaned that place up! Dawson was sure to "take a nap" in Aunt Shawna's (Mansfield) bed.

The Macs are slowly making their house their home again. Brother Mac and Ashley installed a new fixture in Ashley's room.

We really could have used Than's help today!

Well, that is a real quick update on the Martha things that we have been doing. I'll let David blog about the Mary things when he gets a chance. :)

Peace out girl scout! - (from Kristen)

Macs

2008-09-09T11:17:00.006+01:00

The McFarland family is finally back...all of them! After 3 years of being away, they are all back together. We are celebrating tomorrow night.

Tara and Riley March and family are due to arrive on Sept. 23rd! We are so excited for them. They are AIMers like we are.

We are $10,000 away from having our container shipped. The container holds our building supplies for the church addition and personal items for all 3 families on it. The container is completely loaded and ready to go. We are praying that we'll be able to have it shipped soon.

I hope that our Louisiana folks didn't have too much damage during the hurricane. We have heard a lot of reports about trees being down on houses. We are keeping you all in our prayers. We are also praying that hurricane Ike stays away!

Here are a few recent pictures.

Elayna 8 months old.

David & Dawson Sunday before church. It was a beautiful day.
Below: Me and Elayna in Newcastle.

Ashley and Kristen in Newcastle last Thursday.

Many nations, creeds, and tongues

2008-08-25T21:19:00.002+01:00

Bro. Kyle came to me after church yesterday and pointed out the many nationalities that were represented in the service. People from the Philipines, the US, Ireland, and Ghana were all in attendance.

So we took a picture!

Worship Leading

2008-08-25T21:05:00.002+01:00

Here on the missions field it seems like there are limitless opportunities to stretch ourselves by stepping out of our comfort zones and doing things we never thought we could. And so it was that with Nathanael's departure, the only immediate option we had for Sunday worship was for me to lead from the guitar.

Now don't get me wrong - I've had a great guitar instructor in Steve Bunch, my brother and all around music virtuoso. But I've not played much guitar publicly, other than the occasional rousing rendition of "The Lord Is a Warrior" with the Band of Brothers (our High School Boys Sunday Class back in DS).

And my singing isn't the best either, except when compared to a hound dog baying at the moon at which time I can usually run a close second.

So to be the game for worship this past Sunday was a stretch for me.

Ashley did a great job singing harmony and some lead parts, Caleb is doing a great job on drums, and as a last minute help Eamon grabbed the bass. Turns out he's quite a good bass player and really helped fill up the sound.

But here's the deal. In spite of all my worries, God stepped in and we had a great service. The worship was great and during altar call (when I jumped over to the keyboard and played both chords that I know) people really connected and God's Spirit swept into the church in such a brilliant way.

The point? God takes our little bit and makes it a lot!

Hmmm...here's a thought....maybe I should start a band and do a UK tour....

Goodbye 'Than

2008-08-25T16:39:00.000+01:00

Nathanael

2008-08-23T22:16:00.004+01:00

I feel really bad that we haven't written a farewell blog for Nathanael.

'Than left Thursday. We miss him already! He was a really big help to David; especially, working around the church. His biggest contribution to the work in Ireland was his sweet keyboard skills. Tomorrow is our first service without him on the keyboard. David is going to lead playing the guitar, Ashley will sing, and Caleb will play the drums. I'm sure that they'll do a great job, but we will miss 'Than.

I think that 'Than and Shawna Mansfield should race to see who can get back to Ireland the fastest!

Thanks Brother and Sister Davis for sharing 'Than with us as we labored for God's Kingdom in Ireland together this summer!

I'll soon post a slide show of random pictures of Nathanael while he was here.

Quiz

2008-08-19T11:17:00.002+01:00

I love the responses to my Irish Lingo. I'll give the answers now. Thanks for playing along!

First, I must say that whoever Mr. or Mrs. Anonymous is, I believe that you are either from or have visited here, or you have lived/been somewhere near. You got almost all of them right! You should tell me who you are because I think I know. :)

And as far as Shawna's "Craic" correction. I looked it up. It can be spelled either way- "Crack" or "Craic". I love being right. (And so do you. So, we are both right. Yeah!)

Thanks for the good Crack!

1. Crack= Fun/Enjoyment
2. Pants= Underwear (And trousers are what we would call pants )
3. Trolley= Shopping Cart (Their shopping carts go crazy. The back wheels aren't locked.)
4. Chips= Fries (And Crisps are potato chips)
5. Rubbish= Trash (And the trashcan is the Bin)
6. Balognese= Sauce used for Spaghetti
7. Baps= Bread (usually Hamburger Buns)
8. Nappy= Diaper (They have nappy changing stations instead of...well you get it.)
9. Biscuits= Cookies
10. Pounds= Money
11. Stones= Weight (How much you weigh.)
12. Call= Come (Signs here say "Call again" when you are leaving a certain area. And if someone wants you to call them on the telephone...they will ask you to "ring" or "phone" them. )
13. Pelican= Pedestrians (Signs here say "Pelican Crossing")
14. Football= Soccer
15. Tea= Usually refers to having dinner
16. College= Upper level high school years- Junior and Senior year
17. Brush= Broom (hee, hee...they say "brush the floor")
18. Garden= Yard (Whether or not there are flowers.)
19. Rubber= Eraser
20. Quid= Bucks ("that costs 50 quid")

And as far as Sharon's comment. I love this...Dummys are Pacifiers. That is one that I can't get used to.

Here are a few I thought of after the quiz:

Class= is the word that they use to describe something that is "cool"
Mum or Mummy= Mom/Mommy
Diary= Day planner
Jumper= Sweater
Wellies= Rubber Boats
Till= Checkout
Queue= Line
Toilet= Bathroom (They don't call it a restroom or bathroom. They simply say "toilet." Not very "class".)
Surgery= The doctor's office
Chemist= Pharmacy

I'm sure that there are more that I haven't mentioned and more that I have yet to learn. But now, if you ever come to visit, you'll have a head start on what words mean here.

Irish Lingo

2008-08-17T20:52:00.003+01:00

So you would expect in coming to Ireland, an English speaking country, that it wouldn't be too difficult to converse. Well, there are two things wrong with that assumption.

1. You can't understand some of the people here when they speak because they talk soooo fast.

2. They have different words for many things.

I have decided to take a little time to jot down a few Irish terms that I have learned since arrival. I'm not sure if I have spelled them exactly like they do here. (Which is another whole story. They don't spell like we do. We'll save that for another blog.)

Here are the contradictions to American English that I have caught..because as I said above, I don't catch everything said.

Actually, I think I have decided to turn this into a quiz for you! It's the teacher in me. LOL. I'll list the terms in this blog. You leave comments with your guesses as to what they mean. Then, I'll blog what is actually meant by them. NO cheating! Our friends here can't help! And those of you who have been here please don't tell; you can enjoy the guesses with me. If you are guessing, you don't have to guess on all of them if you don't want to, but be sure to number your answers. (The teacher in me is loving this!)

1. Crack
2. Pants
3. Trolley
4. Chips
5. Rubbish
6. Balognese
7. Baps
8. Nappy
9. Biscuits
10. Pounds
11. Stones
12. Call
13. Pelican
14. Football
15. Tea
16. College
17. Brush
18. Garden
19. Rubber
20. Quid

2008-08-16T11:07:00.002+01:00

Here is a picture of Shawna leaving Ireland for her 4th summer AIMing here. She is loading her suitcases and heading out knowing not when she will return to the place of her burden. In the background is her AIM quarters also known as the "flat." She finally got it all cleaned up and organized and decorated like she wanted it just what two days ago? So sad to have to leave it so soon. As you can tell from her body language, she is not happy about this. We miss you already Shawna!

Too Long

2008-08-14T11:04:00.003+01:00

Whoa! It has been way too long since we last blogged. What have we being doing? Um, still cleaning the church property (inside and out), having church, and we have had a few get togethers.

Lynn and Kyle's son came home from Afghanistan (I think that is where he was). They had a welcome home party for Glynn.

Lynn's friend Susan had us all over to her house for Chinese as a send off for Shawna. That was really nice. They have visited our church a few times, but have a "home" church. I'm hoping that we'll become their home church!

Last night was Shawna's last service. She is leaving Friday. We are really going to miss her. The thing that I feel the worst about is knowing how much it must hurt to have to leave the place that you know to which God has called you.

I don't even think about when our appointment ends. That is too stressful. I don't believe that God sent us here for only 9 months. We are really believing that we are going to have enough support to send us right back here to keep working.

Anyway, Shawna leaves tomorrow and we will miss her!

Nathaniel leaves next week. Then, Brother McFarland comes home! Then, Steve and Sherie fly in for a visit. And then, Sister McFarland and their daughter Shawna is due to come in the next week. We are keeping the airports busy around here for the next 5 weeks.

This is awful...someone stole David's bank card number. They spent $2,200 at the mall and Wal-mart. Customer service says that it has been on the news back in the states that someone steals your number when you make a purchase somewheres and then they go and makes a card with that number. I think that they should be doubly in trouble because they stole money that is being used for God's kingdom!

Keep Kim in your prayers. She is my sister for all practical purposes. Her parents are my 2nd mom and dad. They are my unofficially adopted family. Kim is pregnant and has been put on strict bed rest due to high blood pressure. She still has 8 weeks (I think) before the baby is due.

If you are one of our supporters, we would like to email you our monthly newsletter. Please email farrahlabunch@yahoo.com to get on our email list. Thanks!

Lots of love!

Work

2008-08-03T22:51:00.008+01:00

Thursday, David worked over at the church for awhile. They cleared out the Sunday school room. It was basically being used as a storage room and was full of lots and lots of stuff. And the guys took turns mowing the lawn with a push mower. It is a pretty big lawn to be mowed with a push mower, but a man has to do what a man has to do.

Friday, we waited for an Irish man to bring us some fuel for the house. He was supposed to be here between 11:00 and 12:00. He got here at 5:00. Therefore, we didn't go to the church and work as planned.

Saturday, was a church work day. We cleared out the boiler room, hauled off the trash from the property (and there really was lots), and cleaned up the Sunday school room. Then, we enjoyed lunch and good fellowship with the much appreciated clean-up crew.
Today, we had church! And I got to teach in the clean Sunday school room. It was so nice. I just love classrooms. They make the teacher in me really happy. (smile)
Oh, and I trimmed Caleb's hair. Hee, hee. He has soooo much hair!
Shawna cooked lunch for us. It was delicious!
Keep praying for Ireland! Because I'm ready for REVIVAL.

Sis Mac

2008-07-30T11:13:00.002+01:00

In case you didn't read the comment left by Valerie about Sister Mac, things are looking up for her. Once her blood is thinned enough, they will send her home. It will take 30-60 days for the blood clot to dissolve. She is feeling much better and glad to have Bro. Mac there.

Thanks Valerie for the update!

Timo

2008-07-30T11:10:00.001+01:00

Keep up with Timo on Vicki's sister's blog.

http://www.tsmithconroe.blogspot.com/

This family needs your prayers and a miracle from God!

Urgent Prayer Request from WNOP

2008-07-29T17:47:00.001+01:00

Our very good friends Vicki and Tremayne Simoneaux's son needs your prayers:

Timothy (Timo) Simoneaux, a missionary kid from Africa, has bacterial meningitis. He has been unresponsive for five hours and is being air-evaced from Malawi to South Africa. They expect the plane to arrive within the next five hours. Please pray that the plane will arrive sooner and get him to South Africa. Please pray for God's healing power to flow in Timothy's body. Please pray that the family will have peace in this scary time.

Sister Mac

2008-07-29T10:39:00.002+01:00

We haven't heard anything about Sister Mac. We will update you as we do.

If you have any info, please leave us a comment.

Thanks!

On Asking Directions From An Irishman

2008-07-28T11:45:00.002+01:00

He spake thus:

"Do you know where the Moira Roundabout is? Right then, well you wouldn't go that way. You'd go the other way up the Dromore Road to Roundabout Fifteen. There you take left and go about a mile until you come to a large hill. Go down the hill. Now when you come up the other side of that hill you'll be in town. Now I can't remember if it's the second light or the third light, but at one of the lights you'll see a stone fence. If you'll just take a wee right at the only road past that fence, you'll come to the train station and see a car park. Now you wouldn't park in that car park because it is much too dear. So if you'll circle back around to the other side of the train station, go back up the street you just came down and go completely around the roundabout, you'll see a free car park. The best thing to do would be to park there and walk back."

Great Service on Sunday

2008-07-28T11:22:00.002+01:00

Sunday service was fantastic. We had 27 including a couple of first time visitors! A Filipino brother came from Tome, which is well north of here. He had to take a train to one city, catch a bus to Belfast, get another train from Belfast to Lurgan, and then Bro Eamon picked him up from the train station and brought him to church. That's a real desire to come to God's house!

We had a tremendous time in God's presence and many lives were touched. We desperately miss Pastor Mac, but we are encouraged knowing that God has brought us all together for this time and place for the advancement of the Kingdom.

Our faith is high and God is confirming His Promises over and over again.

ICU

2008-07-25T23:57:00.004+01:00

Please pray for Sister Cindy McFarland as she is in intensive care for the next five days. They have found a blood clot in one of her lungs. Brother McFarland must leave to be with her on Sunday morning.

I know that God is in control and that he has us here to help during this time of need for the McFarlands. However, we will miss Brother Mac and can't wait until Sister Mac is well and can return to her home here in Ireland.

Thanks for the prayers!

Wed. Church

2008-07-24T09:32:00.003+01:00

We had great church last night.

Pastor Mac began teaching about prayer. He noted that the Bible does not say "if" you pray and "if" you fast. It says "when" you pray and fast.

He is leading the church into a season of prayer. And I'm sure that fasting will follow next week's lesson. We better eat lots this week. (wink, wink)

We are happy to announce that Steve and Sherie Bunch have booked their tickets to come and see us the first week of September! We are so excited!

If you have a chance, click on my link to Vicki Simoneaux's blog. Her son Timo prayed a prayer for the children of Africa that is really worth reading.

BTW...

2008-07-20T22:26:00.000+01:00

We had 29 souls in service today! Praise the Lord. We are growing.

2008-07-20T21:02:00.000+01:00

This is just too cute!
Make a joyful noise unto the Lord!

2008-07-20T21:01:00.000+01:00

Food, fun, and fellowship.

2008-07-20T21:00:00.000+01:00

Worship the Lord! Praise His Holy Name!

2008-07-20T20:58:00.001+01:00

Sit back and relax. This may take a while. Pastor Mac is back!

2008-07-20T20:55:00.000+01:00

Sunday school...before it got wild!

Mid-week Service

2008-07-19T22:31:00.000+01:00

It was Wednesday night...and we had people at church!

Camp out

2008-07-19T22:30:00.001+01:00

During Ben and Rani's visit, the guys had an interesting camp out (in the front garden of the church). Um, yeah. You might not call it a camp out because they got cold and went home somewhere around 1:00 in the morning. Now that's roughing it. I guess that they didn't think that all four of them could fit in the two man tent that they had. Imagine that??

Week 7 or is it 8 now?

2008-07-19T21:38:00.004+01:00

We have been busy even though we took the week off from working on the church property. Of course that means that we worked at home because there is always work to do there, right? Brother Mac was sick early in the week and really need time to get over the jet lag before diving into physical labor.

Today was the first real work day. The guys - including Dawson (and Shawna part of the time) worked really hard in the garden. (That is what they call yards here whether or not there are flowers growing.) It really needed a good overhaul. The weather was lovely! It's too bad I didn't have my camera there to take before and after pictures.

Meanwhile, the rest of us worked in the church and the house cleaning, and organizing, and rearranging, and making things look and smell pretty (yes things can smell pretty).

We are looking forward to Brother Mac preaching tomorrow in his own church! After church, we are having a good old fashioned potluck (benefit of a small church). I guess it's not really a potluck because we have planned out exactly who is bringing what. Unless the "luck" comes in when the food actually arrives and is tasty.

Pray for my Sunday school lesson tomorrow. (smile)

A Blog! (But No Photos)

2008-07-16T22:49:00.002+01:00

Wow! We've had computer troubles the last few days and are just now getting re-connected! It's amazing how attached we are to computers, especially being so far from friends and family. I thought our oxygen supply had been cut off!

So the good news is we're back online, but there may not be any pictures for a few days unless and until Farrah can work some of her magic to get them posted.

The other good news is that we just finished up our Wednesday evening service and we had 18 people in attendance! What????!! Just a few weeks ago we would have considered 18 on a Sunday to be a huge crowd (and everyone knows you have more people on Sunday than on Wednesday, right?).

Gary brought another friend tonight, a guy named John. Guess what? John says he's an atheist : ) He won't be for long!

Other updates:

The Mac Attack is Back! Well, at least Bro McFarland has returned to Ireland. Sis Cindy will remain in the States under the care of her doctor until September. Keep them in prayer. Though we wish Sis Cindy could be here too, we are ecstatic to have Bro Mac. We got to hang out with him some yesterday and had a blast.

Lynn and Kyle and family are simply amazing. We've connected with them in such a great way. They just keep on amazing us with their kindness and generosity. After Sunday service they took us boating on Lough Neagh (here's where one of those pictures would be nice). I thanked them for sharing their blessing of a boat with us and they replied "that's what blessings are for - to share".

Saturday was a big holiday here (12th of July) and then Monday was a big holiday, too (Scarva Day). So Lynn and Kyle invited us over for a big bbq and we got to meet some of their extended family. All precious people.

We are overwhelmed at the goodness of God. I'm so glad He's allowing us to be here in Northern Ireland to connect with such wonderful people.

Thanks for all of your comments on the blog. We always look forward to reading your posts!

Thank God for Good Church

2008-07-13T14:04:00.003+01:00

God gave us a really good service today. It seems like each week the Presence of God is even more real in the service than before. People were visibly moved both during worship and during prayer time after the message. We are truly seeing God move and it is so awesome to be a small part of it.

Today Gary brought a friend named Simon who we really enjoyed meeting. Simon is also hungry for more of God and said that he had never felt God like he did today.

Kyle and Lynn, who have been so good to us and the church, brought their daughter and her fiance today! We were thrilled to have them with us.

And of course we are so pleased that our long term friends Rani and Ben Nolan are visiting us all the way from Texas. We've all had a good time laughing and cutting up, and yesterday Rani and Ben pitched in to help us clean up the church for service today.

At church this morning, Ben gave us a good word by sharing some things God has given him about truly getting to know God.

We give God all of the glory for what He is doing in Northern Ireland!

(I'm sure Farrah will post some pictures soon)!

Misc. Photos I Thought You'd Enjoy

2008-07-06T18:08:00.003+01:00

If Caleb really played with this much gusto, we'd have some church!

Future preacher? Or singer? Or both?

We had a stray dog come up Wednesday night. Yes, he wondered into church in the middle of Bible Study! He was wet and smelly. Nathaniel and the dog became instant friends. Hmmmm....

Gary and me, right after he was baptized.

A Good Report

2008-07-06T17:54:00.002+01:00

It's amazing how busy we've been. About six weeks have gone by and it seems like we just got here!

We're starting to adjust to the Irish way of life, and though we haven't exactly picked up the accent, we are starting to use some of their vernacular. An example of this would be where they call a baby's pacifier a "dummy". No longer do we search the house and car for "nu nus"...no, we search for "dummies". And there are lots of dummies to be found depending on which sense of the word you want to use!

As crazy as it sounds, driving on the other side of the car and road is now done without a second thought, and when I try to imagine driving in America my head starts spinning and I get real dizzy. Okay, so it isn't that bad but you get the idea.

This week we will be busy making final preparations for the McFarland's arrival next Monday. They are missed much by the church people and by us.

There was a great presence of God in the service today. We had a good crowd and the worship was excellent. Farrah brought a good report from Sunday school. (One little guy named Jacob walked into church this morning, went straight up to Farrah and asked, "Are we having Sunday School today")? So that made Farrah happy knowing that Jacob was looking forward to it.

Kristen said my sermon was good, but she fell asleep so that's not good! I'm guessing that I'm not on the short list for camp meeting next year.

All said, we still feel "dead on" to be here in Ireland contributing to the Kingdom.

And that's another Irish expression.

New Link Added!

2008-07-06T17:45:00.002+01:00

Rev. Paul Dickson is a dear friend and mentor in my life, and I am adding a link to his website on the sidebar. You can also click here.

Bro. Paul was well into his training to become a monk when God began dealing with him to leave the monastic order. He is now an Apostolic minister and has an anointed ministry that combines humor and his personal testimony.

Be sure to check out his website to read all about the "monk who stole the bell"!

American Holiday

2008-07-05T00:58:00.006+01:00

Happy 4th of July America!

God Bless America

We celebrated the 4th of July today at the McFarland's house with an American style BBQ. Later we gathered around a bonfire and roasted marshmallows (which was really nice since it is cold out, especially at night).

Our dearest friends, Ben and Rani, arrived in Ireland today. They won't be at our house until Thursday, but then they'll be here for 5 days! Yeah!

Hello to everyone who is at Louisiana Camp meeting this week! I know that you are all enjoying the AWESOME services.

Slideshow

2008-07-03T18:23:00.005+01:00

I added a slide show element to our blog. We plan to update it often. Enjoy!

UK

2008-07-03T16:22:00.006+01:00

I just thought that you all should know that living in another country is very expensive, especially in the UK. I would never have expected to pay $80 for a cheap baby walker and $120 for a used toddler bike. That is craziness! Whew! Now that that is said. I feel much better. LOL. Thankfully we have some friends bringing Elayna a walker from the states from Walmart for $20. That is more like it. And we are still searching for Dawson a wee bike to ride.

We had a wonderful service last night. David played his guitar and sang (the high school boys class in Denham should appreciate that). Then we had Bible study. And then Gary was baptized in Jesus Name! It was really moving. God is so awesome!

Today, Brother Kelley came to visit at our house. It was a nice visit. I think that he was mainly stopping in to make us feel welcome and to show his support. (I actually don't know because I was entertaining two very busy babies while he and David visited...LOL). But I did manage to get a picture to post of the visit. I guess David can tell more about the visit later.

God Is On the Move

2008-06-30T10:28:00.005+01:00

We've had a really blessed week and weekend. It is so exciting to see God at work here in Northern Ireland, and we feel honored to be a part of it.

We've been in contact with a man named Gary who is so hungry for a move of God in his life. We brought him to church Sunday and as soon as he walked in he said he felt something different than he'd ever felt before. After church he told me that he'd been searching for God for 20 years and had never felt anything like he did in the service. He wants to be baptized Wednesday night!

And then I must tell you that God has sent a wonderful family to us. We've really connected with Lynn and Kyle and their kids. Friday night they had us all over for a big barbecue and we had a great time.

Here's a picture of Kyle grilling:

Kristen has really connected with their daughter Gillaine. They act like they've known each other forever. We are really thankful that God has sent Kristen a good friend here in Ireland.

Here's a picture of Kristen and Gillaine having fun in Dublin:

Kyle and Lynn have some great ideas for outreach (since they are "locals" they know the best ways to reach out) and we are so thankful to have them and their family in our church.

We feel like God is doing some great things at Greater Life Church with so much more to come!

Last week

2008-06-30T03:29:00.006+01:00

We stayed really busy last week with the ladies from Indiana.

They were able to help us totally update the AIM quarters. Thanks ladies! It looks great and now Shawna Mansfield can actually sleep there.

We had dinner at one of our church family's house on Friday. That was a great experience. What a lovely wee family they are, aren't they? (The people here love to end their sentences with questions. Hee, hee.)

This was the view from their backyard. It was beautiful! By the way, it was 10:30 at night here and the sun was only just starting to go down.

Yesterday was Kristen's sweet 16 birthday. It was a "brilliant birthday, so it was." Ashley McFarland made a beautiful and delicious cake. Thanks Ashley! Shawna and Nathaniel hid Kristen's present and set up clues around the house in order for her to find it. It was great fun to watch her. Thanks, Caleb, for giving her the hints. LOL. They each made Kristen a card. It made our store bought card seem so thoughtless. LOL. We finished the night playing a slightly competitive game of Bop It. I think that just about everyone won a round.

Church was great! We had about 20 people. David made contact with a man who is really seeking the Holy Ghost. He came to church yesterday and wants to get baptized Wednesday!

Sunday school was a bit rough again. LOL. One girl was literally turning flips during Bible story time, while Dawson and another wee boy were sliding off of the couch head first. I'm really not cut out for the wee children. I may be passing that role over to someone else soon. LOL.

We are so happy to have Shawna Mansfield back. Our nickname for her is Shawesome. She is really a blessing around here.

I hear that Pastor McFarland and Sister Cindy are headed back around July 15th now. Keep them in your prayers. We are so excited about them coming home!

2008-06-22T22:23:00.007+01:00

Wow! How time flies.

Wednesday, we had very few people in church, but we had a really good Bible study about the different ways to study God's word and how important it is to study the word of God. And as always, we enjoyed coffee and tea with biscuits after church.

Thursday, we spent the day trying to buy a car. The bank closed at 3:30 for no apparent reason so we had to wait a day.

Friday, we bought a car. Thanks to everyone who helped with the BBQ dinner fundraiser at our church. We used the money to buy our ride here. It is a really good and reliable car- a 2004 Mazda 2 with only 30,000 miles. I finally got to drive on the opposite side of the car on the opposite side of the road. It actually came pretty easily to me. Of course I have been paying attention as David has been chauffeuring us around the Emerald Isle since we have been here.

Saturday, a few ladies from Indiana came in for a week to help us at the church (and see a few sites while they are here).

And now today, I am so excited to say that we had 26 people in church! That is our biggest crowd yet. I am praying that God will multiply the people of the church every service that we have. I know that we have the truth and the truth shall set you free! Everyone needs the truth!

Ashley McFarland and I "taught" Sunday school to five kids (including Elayna and Dawson). Well, you might say that we attempted to teach Sunday school to some wild kids who were attacking each other during singing and Bible story time. I'm definitely cut out for the older kids myself. And I believe that Ashley enjoys the very young babies/toddlers. We had a blast. I hope that the kids learned something. LOL. They probably did. Kids will really amaze you at how much they were really paying attention even if it seemed that they weren't. We'll see next week.

Oh, the weather here has been pretty cold. It feels like Louisiana Christmas time! We have been walking around singing Christmas songs.

It was brought to our attention that we didn't have any pictures of Caleb McFarland up on our blog. This is Caleb. Isn't he cute?!

Road Trip

2008-06-17T21:18:00.005+01:00

On Monday we went up to the northern most point of Northern Ireland - Giant's Causeway. As soon as we got out of the van and geared up to walk up to the Causeway, it began to pour down rain! So we did not get to stay out there very long. With the rain, the breeze off the water, and the chill in the air, we weren't feeling like hanging out indefinitely! But we did get to see this amazing part of nature. Later, the rain stopped and we got to walk around Dunluce Castle - a castle that stands in ruins but is extremely beautiful.

Dunluce Castle
Ashley and Elayna - in the rain!

Giant's Causeway

Getting It Done

2008-06-17T21:12:00.005+01:00

A Few Observations

2008-06-17T00:04:00.004+01:00

We have more pics to share, but for some reason we are experiencing technical difficulty in uploading additional photos. So in the meantime, here are a few random thoughts.

We have been busy this last week working at the church (hence the lack of blogs). We've painted, uprooted the garden, cleaned out an old caravan (mobile home), scrubbed carpet...the list goes on. It is truly a gratifying to connect to the work of God in this way.
Everyone agrees that the biggest adjustment so far has been the food. The only way to really describe it is to say that it is just different than what we are used to. South Louisiana folks think that food isn't food unless it creates a slight burning sensation while being enjoyed. The Irish are not so keen on the spices.
Sunday we woke up to a warm 46 degree morning! The high of the day was 55 degrees! The greatest part about it is that the locals are talking about what a fantastic summer they are having...whaaat?!!
I don't know what we would have done without our new friends Jonny and Naomi. They are our neighbors and have really taken care of us and answered a litany of questions. Thanks Jonny and Naomi!
Please check back often for pictures from the work days and from our excursion today to Giants Causeway and Dunluce Castle.

A Sample Church Service

2008-06-16T23:28:00.002+01:00

In services on the mission field, we all work together to make it happen.

Dawson Praying

'Than Praying
The Word goes forth.
Dawson likes to help Daddy in every way he can!

Interesting UK News

2008-06-11T21:44:00.004+01:00

I thought this interesting bit of news out of the UK was worth sharing.
Yesterday, Prince Charles paid off a debt incurred by King Charles II in 1651!

Charles handed over 453 pounds and 15 pence (572 euros and 20 euro cents, 885 dollars and four cents) which King Charles II failed to pay to the Clothiers Company in Worcester, central England, in 1651. The king had commissioned uniforms for his troops to fight the republican forces of Oliver Cromwell at the Battle of Worcester the same year.

Prince Charles said he was glad he didn't have to pay interest.

If interest was taken into account, 453 pounds and three shillings in 1651 would have been worth approximately 47,500 pounds in 2007, the BBC website said, citing the Institute for the Measurement of Worth.

Bric-a-Brac

2008-06-10T01:35:00.006+01:00

We are still working to settle in to our house. It is amazing having to start all over with a family of five. We are very much trying to get used to living is another country. Getting used to the food is probably my biggest challenge right now. I don't know what to cook! The don't have the same seasonings and prepackaged foods that we have. LOL.

We are looking for the right vehicle. We have come across some great deals, but have not settled on anything yet.

Our neighbors are truly a God send. (Thanks Johnny and Naomi for being great friends!) They have blessed us so much since we have been here.

They gave us a washer/dryer thingy. I say "thingy" because it is not like anything I have ever seen or used in the states. It takes FOREVER to wash clothes, and never really dries them. Today, I hung clothes over chairs outside to try and dry them. And what should have been two loads of laundry turned out to be six! I don't understand what people do here. They don't have closets and the don't have very big washers. We must be wearing too many clothes and washing them way too often. I don't know. We are really thankful for the washer. We just have to get used to it.

We miss Shawna Mansfield. She is still in the states with her dad. I believe that he is doing much better. I pray that she will be back here soon to keep things running smoothly.

Church was great on Sunday. We had 19 people. And one of our families was out on holiday. (We call it vacation. They call it holiday.) A lovely family of 6 was there. It was nice to have new faces to add to the "crowd."

Oh, Dawson played his guitar on the platform during service. I thought that he had this all planned out with David. He didn't. Just as service began, he ran up on the platform like an old pro and played his guitar just as serious as the rest of the musicians. It was the cutest thing in all the world. A true Kodak moment and I didn't have my camera! He loves to worship God.

Bric-a-brac is a word/phrase that we see here. I interpret it to mean something like "this and that" but actually it refers to low price items usually sold at resale shops.

Keep our wee church in your prayers. I know that God is going to do awesome things in Northern Ireland.

Tollymore Forest Park

2008-06-04T01:16:00.015+01:00

Sunday after church, we took a group trip to Tollymore Forest Park. It is an awesome park at the foot of the Mourne Mountains. (We have a very distant view of these mountains from our house.)

Here are a few pictures of this unbelievably beautiful forest...to know that God created such a place! Really...the pictures don't even do it justice. And the ride there is incredible as you can imagine. Ireland is just a beautiful country.

Elayna enjoyed the park in her easy chair (actually...she slept through most of it).

David and Dawson had to have a walking cane made from the forest.

(By the way...most assume that it is beautiful here due to all the rain...not so...it is due to the great FRESH fertilizer that they have. Yeah...Kristen says that all picture books of Ireland should come with a scratch and sniff sticker. It does stink certain times of the year. And we just so happen to have arrived at that time of the year.)

Monday, we ran errands all day. Then, we visited with Shawna and the McFarland crew until late. Shawna had to leave today (Tuesday) to come back to the states early because her dad is in the hospital. Thank God he is doing much better! Please continue to pray for him. He may go home as soon as a week from now. And then Shawna will hopefully come back for the rest of the summer. We miss her already!

Today, we basically drove around Lurgan looking for a store that we didn't know the name of in order to find cheaper items in bulk. We didn't find it. But we did find Starbucks! Wahoo!

That's probably why I'm still up! It is 1:42AM here...so actually it is Wednesday for me and still Tuesday for you all back home.

Come See What God Is Doing In Northern Ireland!

2008-06-01T23:54:00.005+01:00

We've been here just over a week now and we are really glad that everyone has been keeping up with our transition to Ireland through this blog. Pastor McFarland cautioned us to take as much time as we need to settle in because it really is a big deal to move a family to a new country and culture. I imagine that it will take quite some time for us to settle in to our new surroundings, but we are loving every minute of it.

That said, we have been busy working for the Kingdom this week as well. Last Sunday we had a terrific service with 18 people in attendance. Wednesday night was Bible study and since our musicians were sick, we brought in this really talented guitar player/singer to lead worship. Okay, so I barely got by, but we really did have a great worship encounter with God. The Bible study was on receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit.

And then today was another great service. I definitely felt more comfortable today - I suppose because things are beginning to feel familiar and we are starting to learn the names and faces of the church people.

God's spirit moved into our service in a really strong way today...it seemed like the worship service went to the next level as we sang about thirsting after God even when we are in a dry and barren place. I felt led to speak today about the love of God - how man's relationship with God was restored when He died for us, proving His unfailing love. And His love is unconditional and it provides a shelter to us in tough times.

Afterwards we had a good time of seeking God in the altar, followed by special prayer for Shawna's father who is in urgent need of healing (please keep him in your prayers).

We're looking forward to another great week at Greater Life Church...see you there? : )

Paul Revere

2008-06-01T08:47:00.005+01:00

Paul Revere would be sooo disappointed in us. Yesterday we walked down to the village centre for an Orange March and all that I could think was that "the British are coming." The village of Donaghcloney, where we live, is a British town. Here in Northern Ireland people draw lines based on their being either British or Irish because Northern Ireland is under British rule. We noticed driving in to town that the British flags were flying and that the tiny bridge had British markings on them. So, yesterday there was this Orange Parade celebrating British Victory at the Battle of the Boyne. It use to be during these type parades that the bombings and troubles would take place. However, they are at peace here now (and hopefully it will only continue to get better). I was a little nervous about going, but the neighbors (who are extremely friendly) urged us to go. They assured us that it was perfectly safe and something that Americans should see.

It was a good thing that we didn't grab our grocery bags for beads. There were no beads. In fact, we walked down to the supermarket in the town centre with big smiles on our faces (which is right passed the village butcher and chemist-pharmacy). But we walked back in a more somber mood. Our smiles faded. This was not a true celebration. It was a serious matter. The people both in the parade and on the streets were very serious.

The sounds coming from the drums and fifes were really something to hear. We could actually hear the parade at our house. And the British soldiers were most interesting to see. But as I say, I'm sure that Paul Revere would be so disappointed in us.

We did get to meet several of our neighbors during our walk to the town centre yesterday for the parade. They were all so nice. We have added several names to our prayer list.

You will also notice in the pictures that the sun is shining. Our neighbors informed us that this is a little unusual here. I am sure that God let us bring a little sunshine and warmth with us to help us acclimate. The weather has been beautiful.

It is also interesting to note that these pictures were taken at about 8:30 in the evening. The days are very long this time of year and it doesn't get completely dark until almost midnight!

Day 8

2008-05-31T13:03:00.011+01:00

Kristen posing on the steps of an unsuspecting building. I love this picture.
Shawna, Nathaniel, David, Kristen, and Ashley in font of a very colorful building in Banbridge. Lovely colors in Ireland.

Here are a couple of the pictures of the furniture that we bought...

The biggest wardrobe (above)...And a phone table (below).

Elayna is keeping up with the blog.

Dawson on what we call the "billy cart." He loves this thing. The only problem is that he can't reach the pedals so we have to push him.

Yesterday, we went shopping in Banbridge. The weather was perfect. Then we came home and played games with the kids. It was a nice relaxing day.

Elayna is feeling better. She isn't running fever anymore! Thanks for praying.

Settlement

2008-05-29T10:46:00.002+01:00

We are getting settled into our house now. We spent the night here for the first time last night. It is crazy here. NO mirrors in the bathrooms. No closets in the rooms. The refrigerator is tiny. I guess that is why they call everything "wee" here. It is a wee refrigerator. And the washer/dryer combo is too funny for wee words. It is about the size of a dishwasher. We'll have to buy one though, because the owner didn't leave it in the house.

Elayna is running a fever. We'll probably bring her to the doctor today. She has been running fever since Sunday. I thought it was her teeth or a cold because her nose is running, but it makes me nervous with her urinary tract problem. Pray. And we'll keep you posted.

Yesterday,
David drove miles away to pickup a bed from a warehouse. Very expensive to buy a bed. The mattress is so cheap that the springs are almost visible on your skin when you wake up. I'm pretty sure that David had markings on his face this morning when we woke up. LOL

We had church last night. Well, some of us did. I stayed home with Elayna, and Ashley McFarland stayed home sick too. David played the guitar and taught the Bible study.

Shawna and I went shopping for hangers and food. The food here doesn't have as many preservatives. Therefore, you have to go shopping more often. Bread is definitely different. And they don't have Lil' Debbie! Yikes. I thought that I knew what bland was, but now I really know.

Will try and post pics later today. The neighbor here is so nice. He let us use his wireless connection info so that we wouldn't be without communication. We are still waiting for them to come and hook our phone up.

Lots of love!

Blessings

2008-05-26T22:39:00.006+01:00

Nathaniel and Dawson. Having fun together. Nate is very patient with Dawson.
Shawna Mansfield and Dawson. One of his new best friends. She is really great with him.

We had a great time today (Monday...a random bank holiday so we couldn't get our phone turned on yet). We went to a thrift shop (which is not at all like ours in the states...but are really very nice with true antiques for a bargain) today and bought some great furniture. And really it was practically given to us....a real blessing from God. We got two super nice wardrobes (because they don't have closets here), an antique phone table, and some other odds and ends all for $100! I will put pics up online soon. Everyone here worked so hard to get that furniture loaded up and moved in! We'll have to cook some Jambalaya for them as soon as we get settled.

The house is really coming together. We really like the furniture that the Macs had for us. It goes perfect with the house.

Tomorrow, we hope to get our phone turned on, and stay the night in our new house.

Church went really well on Sunday. We had 18 people there. Yeah! It's not 800 but close. LOL. We have been in smaller services. It is customary here to have coffee or tea with biscuits (cookies) after church and visit awhile. The Irish talk so fast. I have a hard time following everything that they say. But one of the ladies kept saying how "bright" Elayna is. I guess that she means that she is smart and not referring to her skin color. LOL. I don't know how she can tell that she is smart by just looking at her. But of-course she is really smart.

Shawna Mansfield is an AIMer here for the summer. She is AWESOME! I feel like her and I have been friends forever. I'm already missing her knowing that she is leaving when summer is up.

Ashley & Caleb McFarland are really sweet. They too have made us feel at home.

The McFarland's nephew, Nathaniel, is here too for the summer. He really helps with the handyman work. It was nice to have him here today to help us move.

The McFarlands are coming at the end of June! Wahoo. We can't wait.

2008-05-25T15:31:00.006+01:00

Bear shaped Bologna...everyone needs some of that. LOL

Elayna, that sweet baby girl.

David & Kristen, happily ever after.

Dawson, tired after a long journey across the Atlantic Ocean.

I Met the Nettles

2008-05-24T23:16:00.007+01:00

For all of Ireland's beautiful country side, who would have known it contains something called nettles? Now I know all to well!

Dawson and I set out across a large field to walk up a beautiful hill across the way. It was picturesque and inviting. We came to a barbed wire fence that was about waist high and I set Dawson on the other side. As I climbed on the top strand of barbed wire in my effort to hop the fence, the strand gave way and I fell back into a growth of these nettles.

I immediately knew something was wrong. It felt like a thousand needles had punctured my arms and hands. I tried to brush the pesky stickers away, but there was nothing there. No, I had been "stung" as it were. Almost immediately large whelps appeared, not unlike those received from the common bee sting.

Fortunately, there was a local Irishman back at the house and he showed me a plant that serves as an antidote to the miserable nettle bite. The whelps are mostly gone, though I have had a tingling sensation for hours.

Now I just have to wait for the barbed wire gash in my leg to heal.

Battle scars, friends, battle scars....

Home!

2008-05-24T11:09:00.002+01:00

We're here! What an incredible feeling as we flew over Ireland and landed in Belfast...the entire time I just kept feeling like I had made it home. Farrah told me she was feeling the same way!

We drove to the McFarlands and had lunch and then slept for 2 hours. Then we went over and viewed our house and signed the papers. It's everything we were promised and we really like it!

Still trying to deal with jet lag, but otherwise we are feeling great. We are so excited!

Send Off

2008-05-21T05:08:00.003+01:00

David preached (I don't understood why the past tense of "preach" isn't "praught" because "teach" is "taught"....anyways...) at a sweet church in New Roads Sunday morning pastored by Brother Cole. We had a wonderful service. It is so nice to visit at a church that makes you feel at home. And what a beautiful little town that is. I wonder where the people out there work?? It seems so far from everything.

And then David "praught" at our church Sunday night. (Yes, we had a very busy Sunday. Needless, to say the kids were worn out on Monday. I think that Elayna slept most of the day.) Brother Johnson and the church gave us a great farewell. We feel so loved! It is awesome to be a part of a wonderful church family. We will hold each of you dear to our hearts.

We are leaving Baton Rouge around 10:30 and departing from New Orleans at 2:30 on Thursday (good Lord willing). Please keep us in your prayers that we will have a nice and easy trip to Belfast.

Oh by the way, we received our Visas by UPS today! Thank you Jesus!

We appreciate your prayers! And God Bless!

House & Surprise Party

2008-05-17T05:17:00.004+01:00

Lots of people have wanted to see the house where we will be living in Ireland. Here is the link:

http://www.letsrentni.co.uk/main.htm

Once on the website click: Properties (the red tab at the top)
Then: Donaghcloney
Then: Click on the red brick house that says "Donaghcloney Let Agreed"

We are so excited! Dawson is looking forward to getting a new bed (maybe he'll sleep in it all night...lol). We are trying to prepare Dawson for the move. So, we have been telling him about our great move that is about to take place. At one point he said, "maybe I'll get a new guitar in Ireland." We all know that he doesn't need another one. He already has 6. But 'tis true that we are only taking one with us. He probably does need at least one more. (Smile)

Kristen's school friends threw her a surprise going away party today. It was very nice! She truly was surprised.

Lots more packing and cleaning to do around here, but I think I'll get a few hours of sleep tonight and start over in the morning.

Wow...

2008-05-17T02:29:00.003+01:00

Wow! You are good. You all must have really touched God with our prayer requests! Today, we were able to get partial insurance for Elayna, and we received an email that stated that we should receive our Visas on Tuesday (whew - that is cutting it close).

We really appreciate your prayers!