Wonderful Week

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

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!

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

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.

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

Nathanael

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

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

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

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

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

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.