Céad míle fáilte!

Greetings from Dún Laoghaire, Ireland! After so much travel since last August (Myanmar-India-USA-Thailand-USA-Italy) it feels wonderful to finally settle again in my own apartment in this seaside suburb of Dublin. Céad míle fáilte is Irish for “a hundred thousand welcomes.” I feel like that’s what I’ve experienced since I returned two weeks ago. Such a sweet welcome from friends and acquaintances in my local community, in my Meetup.com groups, at church and in my weekly home group, in my Serge Metro Dublin team, at the co-working space where I have a ‘hot desk’ ten days a month, my hairdresser, and even the postman who just a few moments ago insisted on carrying a big delivery box inside for me. People have amazed me by remembering and asking about my travels, the new house in Virginia, and of course my newest grandson! I tell you, these Irish – and my other expat friends sprinkled in among them – have done everything possible to help me feel at home.

It’s made me all the more eager to deepen connections and friendships, one of the key reasons for my being here in between other travels in my Theological Education Specialist role. Outside my church and Serge circles I’m probably the only committed Jesus-follower these lovely people have ever met. I have the opportunity to be a representative of Christ in post-Catholic, religion-weary Ireland (now considered the least evangelized English-speaking country in the world) and at the same time be entirely myself, however awkward and needy that can be. In the Meetup groups and at my co-working space, for example, we’re all getting to know each other and reaching out for meaning relationships. In that process I often have the chance to tell people a little about who I am and the work I do. A few people ask me more, but really it can take months and years to build up the trust to share more deeply about spiritual issues.

To be honest, I find it much easier to get on a plane and go teach my classes in various parts of the world than to wander around Dublin wondering what God wants me to do next! When I teach, there’s a classroom, a syllabus, a beginning and ending date, and a specific number of students in seats waiting to hear what I have to say. Here I find I have to be much more attentive to the Lord and try to notice and respond to those quiet prompts from the Spirit at random points in the day. And yes, I realize that’s what most of you do all the time! Blessings on you as you represent Jesus in your own unique situations.

I’ve also come back with two big challenges I’d appreciate your prayer for:

• My Irish visa is up for renewal in early June. The immigration rules have gotten stricter and all the agencies like ours are struggling to understand and comply with the new processes. I’m not sure how this will all work out. The immigration service might even require me to return to the US and reapply from there, which would likely take months.
• My financial support has gotten a bit low. Several individual partners and one significant partner church have had to reduce or stop their giving for various (understandable) reasons of their own. If you’ve been considering giving monthly or a one-time gift, or increasing your current giving, now would be the time to do that! The rest of you, please just pray. Thanks!

There’s not much I can do to control the immediate outcome of either of these issues – a terrible position for a type-A, ENTJ like me to find myself in! But it certainly deepens my awareness of my daily need for God’s grace and care. Meanwhile, while I have several relatively calm months before the big ministry projects start up again at the end of May, I have a number of things to work on, like...

• Teach my online Fuller Seminary courses
• Write one book chapter and two dictionary entries I’ve been asked to do for publication
• Supervise an MA thesis for a student in Ethiopia
• Create orientation courses for Theologians Without Borders
• Prepare for Serge's summer Encounter program for Irish and American university students
• Update my classroom and online courses

And anything else that arrives in the email inbox! Please pray for me to be able to use this time – whether at my computer or out and about with others – as a faithful servant in ways that please the Lord. “Whatever you do, work at it wholeheartedly as though you were doing it for the Lord and not merely for people” (Col 3:23).

Thanks for praying! And if you have a chance to visit me here in Ireland – céad míle fáilte!