Wow! It's been a crazy month. My apologies for not updating this more frequently.
After 1 month of training at Lacken House, the group was divided into three teams to go assist with outreach at churches across the country. Three other girls and I were sent to Tullamore Presbyterian Church. It's been a great and crazy experience to move into a new town. I feel like an Irish native as I walk the streets to shop at the local grocery stores, go to church on Sunday, or even attend a movie. We have all gotten situated very well and are enjoying our new home. Here's a schedule of the things we do at the church:
Sunday: Attend the Tullamore Presbyterian Church [and usually shop for much needed food afterwards!]
Monday: [we do a few things depending on people's needs] Clean houses for people who need the help, visit Mountmelick Presbyterian church and help there in any way, do a prayer walk through the town and get to know the people.
Tuesday: Busy Bee's - This is a parent/child day-care at the church from 10:30-noon. We have crafts, music, games, story time, snack, etc. that children and parents both enjoy!
Wednesday: The church is open all day for Tea and Coffee where we also sell some new books. We only get a handful of people for this, so our time at the church is often spent doing our monthly homework for OM. Pray for us in this area of service to Tullamore - that more people will come to the church Wednesdays to talk with us.
Thursday: Alpha Course! This is a worldviews discussion course with a Biblical basis. It talks about big issues and shows the Biblical answer for them. The adult course is just now ending and there is a young-adult course starting at the local College [high school] that we will be assisting in/leading group discussions for. I'm VERY excited about this!
Friday: Day off. We get to enjoy the city, see the sights, and even take the train into Dublin if we would like. :)
Saturday: Book store open most of the afternoon. We have many new books on worldviews/Deveotion Books/Bibles/etc. for sale at the church. This has brought in a few people, but again, pray that more will come!
Thank you all again for the support you gave to help me come here. I can really feel God working in this country that understands Religion, but doesn't have a Relationship. I only have $1,000 more dollars to pay SCORE and any money is VERY much appreciated. You can mail checks to my home address or you can donate online! http://scoreinternational.org/give/ and scroll to the donation for the GAP program. At check out, you can specify the student you are sponsoring. Please put: GAP Ireland Leanne Livingston.
I'm having such a fabulous time, but can't wait to come home in December to see all of you!
"Thanks a million" as they would say in Ireland!
Leanne
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Open Eyes
"Hey, here's a million euro for you!"
"What? Why are you giving me a million euro?"
"Because it has the million euro question on the back: Will you go to heaven when you die?"
That is how most of our conversations went yesterday evening in Roscommon. But, the later it got, the more we had to add, "Read this when you're sober tomorrow" at the end of our sentences. Yesterday at 4:30 we left Lacken House with the Cross. Yes. A literal 12 foot Cross. We walked it from Rahara to Roscommon - an eight mile trek [we cheated because we had a wheel at the end of the cross]. On the way, people waved at us, looked at us funny, or sat on their horn to show disgust. When we got near to town we passed a house where two men where outside working. They asked where we were going with the cross and we told them we were going to church. [We were going to a Brazilian church that night where Mike, our OM director, would be speaking.] When we said we were going to church the man replied, "Oh! You're going to Mass!" We clarified that we weren't but I asked if he had a history in the Catholic church. He answered yes, and my stomach did a flop. For the past two weeks we had been training for evangelism through "Way of the Master" - a technique to show people the seriousness of God's judgement and mercy. We had practiced and studied the Bible and now, it was time to plant seeds for God's harvest. After the man told me he attended Mass on Sundays, I asked what the Catholic church said it took to get to heaven. He said they had to follow the Holy Sacraments and the Ten Commandments and try to live a faithful life. I asked if he had followed the Ten Commandments, God's law. He said yes...we then ventured into a twenty minute conversation talking about God's justice and judgement and mercy through the cross - how we all deserve Hell, but God sent His son as a sacrifice. It was the first time I'd ever truly and intently witnessed to a stranger. And there was a peace. God opened the eyes of those men and you could see the transformation from haughty laughter to conviction. It was an exciting experience and we continued to witness after church in the town of Roscommon. We talked to many people ranging from 18-year-old teenage boys to 20-something men and women outside of pubs. Not many conversations were easy, though, and many of us were ridiculed [especially because our audience had a few too many drinks that night] but we pressed on, still carrying the cross. God not only opened the eyes of the people of Roscommon, but He opened our eyes. No matter if the person disagreed with us or was willing to hear, 99% of the people we talked to wanted to listen and responded to what we were saying. It was a neat experience.
Today three team members and myself visited the church we will be a part of the rest of the time we're in Ireland. The team is being split up to help different churches in parts of Ireland. We are going to Tullamore to help a Presbyterian church, specifically in their young adult ministry. We're excited about the opportunity and move in Saturday. Pray that God can use us to draw the Youth of Tullamore to God through this church.
Thank you for all of your prayers and your support! I still have $1,000 to earn for my trip and any additional funding would be appreciated. :)
Blessings,
Leanne
"What? Why are you giving me a million euro?"
"Because it has the million euro question on the back: Will you go to heaven when you die?"
That is how most of our conversations went yesterday evening in Roscommon. But, the later it got, the more we had to add, "Read this when you're sober tomorrow" at the end of our sentences. Yesterday at 4:30 we left Lacken House with the Cross. Yes. A literal 12 foot Cross. We walked it from Rahara to Roscommon - an eight mile trek [we cheated because we had a wheel at the end of the cross]. On the way, people waved at us, looked at us funny, or sat on their horn to show disgust. When we got near to town we passed a house where two men where outside working. They asked where we were going with the cross and we told them we were going to church. [We were going to a Brazilian church that night where Mike, our OM director, would be speaking.] When we said we were going to church the man replied, "Oh! You're going to Mass!" We clarified that we weren't but I asked if he had a history in the Catholic church. He answered yes, and my stomach did a flop. For the past two weeks we had been training for evangelism through "Way of the Master" - a technique to show people the seriousness of God's judgement and mercy. We had practiced and studied the Bible and now, it was time to plant seeds for God's harvest. After the man told me he attended Mass on Sundays, I asked what the Catholic church said it took to get to heaven. He said they had to follow the Holy Sacraments and the Ten Commandments and try to live a faithful life. I asked if he had followed the Ten Commandments, God's law. He said yes...we then ventured into a twenty minute conversation talking about God's justice and judgement and mercy through the cross - how we all deserve Hell, but God sent His son as a sacrifice. It was the first time I'd ever truly and intently witnessed to a stranger. And there was a peace. God opened the eyes of those men and you could see the transformation from haughty laughter to conviction. It was an exciting experience and we continued to witness after church in the town of Roscommon. We talked to many people ranging from 18-year-old teenage boys to 20-something men and women outside of pubs. Not many conversations were easy, though, and many of us were ridiculed [especially because our audience had a few too many drinks that night] but we pressed on, still carrying the cross. God not only opened the eyes of the people of Roscommon, but He opened our eyes. No matter if the person disagreed with us or was willing to hear, 99% of the people we talked to wanted to listen and responded to what we were saying. It was a neat experience.
Today three team members and myself visited the church we will be a part of the rest of the time we're in Ireland. The team is being split up to help different churches in parts of Ireland. We are going to Tullamore to help a Presbyterian church, specifically in their young adult ministry. We're excited about the opportunity and move in Saturday. Pray that God can use us to draw the Youth of Tullamore to God through this church.
Thank you for all of your prayers and your support! I still have $1,000 to earn for my trip and any additional funding would be appreciated. :)
Blessings,
Leanne
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