Good Things are Happening

My host brother Paul had his Debs (like Prom) this week

That's all the kids in my host family plus Paul's date.  :)

From left to right, there's Stephen, Joseph, Paul, Niamh, Ellen, and Leanne (in front)

The Debs is a pretty big deal here.  The kids don't have a Homecoming Dance or Spring Fling dance every year like most Americans in high school do.  They just have the Debs at the end of their last year of secondary school.  Some of the family came over to take pictures of/with Paul, and he also had several group pictures taken at a couple other houses.  It was pretty fun to see all the girls in their pretty dresses!

The rest of the week went by pretty quickly.  Chrissy and I worked hard at Spirit Radio on Wednesday and Thursday...and I had a pretty cool project to work on.  I got to read through a bunch of listener feedback for the radio station and put it into a booklet to be read on-air throughout the day.  It was such a blessing to read all the positive things that people said.  Here are a few of my favorites:

“I love Spirit Radio. I have been through some rough times lately - and found Spirit Radio so uplifting." 

"We are really enjoying the station. The car doesn't work if Spirit Radio is not on!" 

"I was in UHG (Galway) one morning for an M.R.I. The machine can be very noisy and distressing so they put a pair of headphones on me...with Spirit Radio piped through!  I was amazed! Apparently with all the special linings they have around that room, you're the only radio station that can get through!  Go Spirit Radio!”     

I loved reading that last one...it's pretty cool that God has such interesting ways of reaching out to people...like blocking out all the other radio stations except Spirit Radio!  :)  Anyway, I really enjoyed working on this project.  It was encouraging to read about how Spirit Radio has touched not one, not two, but several people's lives throughout Ireland - and throughout the world!  There was some positive feedback from listeners in the United States (via the "Listen Online" feature) too!  I am greatly blessed with the opportunity to help out at Spirit Radio and be a part of touching people's lives.  I think this may be the largest form of evangelizing (as in - reaching out to the most people) that I've ever done.

Last night we had a NYPD (Nazareth Youth Programme Dublin) meeting.  I'm in charge (with two other leaders) of the Senior Group, which is a group of 12-15 year olds.  So far so good---the kids are great and God has really been blessing our meetings.  Last night we mostly just got ideas from the kids about what they'd like to do during the year and what topics they'd like to cover in discussion, so it was a pretty productive night.  We have a bit of a break for a while, until the end of November, but after the break I'll be giving a talk about "Speech that Builds Up".  Keep me in your prayers as I prepare for that.  :)

Today Chrissy and I went shopping in a town called Dun Laoghaire (pronounced "Dun Leary"), and we found some treasures!  We went to a Christian bookstore called Footprints.  I was looking around at all the books and noticed that they were a bit overpriced (after I converted the price from Euros to Dollars).  At just that moment, Chrissy said "Hey, there's more books downstairs."  I turned around and noticed a sign that said "Special Offer Books Downstairs".  I love a good sale, so down I went into the basement of Footprints.  It was wonderful!  There were shelves and shelves of books...and most of them were second-hand, so they were much lower in price than the ones upstairs.  Chrissy came down after a while to look with me, and we ended up spending a good half hour or so looking at books.  I found one really old book (published in 1915) called The Christian's Handy Book of Prayer...it seems like it'll be really good---it's about having solid prayer times and entering more fully into God's presence.  I got another book called This World:  Playground or Battleground? by A.W. Tozer.  He wrote a really amazing book that I've read before (and am reading again) called The Pursuit of God, and I love his writing style.  I was very blessed and encouraged by The Pursuit of God, and I know this new book is going to be just as rewarding!  In addition to those two books, I found an old C.S. Lewis book (Christian Behaviour), plus a really cool 30-day challenge devotional called Thirsty.  I can't wait to get started on reading one of my new books!

Preparations are moving along for the YES retreat that is coming up next weekend.  The retreat is for 14-16 year olds and the theme is committing one's life to Christ.  I've been involved with quite a bit of behind-the-scenes planning, but I'm also going to be on the music team, leading a small group, and giving a short testimony.  I'm excited to see how the Lord will work in the youth that weekend!  Keep me and the kids in your prayers please.  :)

In other news, I'll be co-leading worship at the community prayer meeting tomorrow for the first time!  I will be singing and playing guitar and Chrissy will be singing with me.  I think there'll be one more guitarist as well. Please keep us in your prayers!  We will be very dependent on the power of the Holy Spirit to really lead us into a powerful time of prayer and praise.

Thank you all for reading my blog and keeping me in your prayers during my GAP year.  It means more to me than you know!  Thank you also to everyone who has supported me financially.  I would not be here in Ireland -- serving the youth, the Christian radio station, and the community -- without your financial support.  So thank you, thank you, thank you.  :)