Dublin Prayer Conference - Tuesday and Wednesday

The Dublin prayer conference kicked off on Monday afternoon with a scavenger hunt. We were placed in a group and were given a set of questions. Our goal was to walk through town and ask locals to answer these questions for us. This was a really good way to get us interacting with Irish folk and to step out of our comfort zones a little bit. We were paired up with another couple, Tom and April, who we became fast friends with. In fact after the hunt, we all went for coffee and I am told by Megan that it was the best iced latte she had ever had. I don't remember what my coffee tasted like, but it helped keep me awake for the rest of the night. Then after some welcome comments, etc. from the World Harvest (WHM) team, we went to bed at 8:30.

We are staying at Carrig Eden Theological College (pictured above). It's been a very accommodating place for our group and any fears that Megan had of European bathrooms and showers have been eased quite a bit. We sort of scored a coup when we realized that we were actually had a double bed in our room - a luxury which several other couples we have talked with don't have. The college sits right on the Sea and the views are awesome.

The last two mornings, we have enjoyed a time of worship and then hearing from some Irish people who are involved in ministry here. Jacob, the principal of the Irish Bible Institute spoke on Tuesday morning and Joe and Sharon spoke this morning about their community outreach in inner city Dublin. We were both quite inspired by their presentation and challenged by their depth of insight and desire to minister according to the cultural environment they find themselves in. For instance, only one half of one percent of the people in the Republic of Ireland are evangelical Christians. On top of that, seventy five percent of the population is under the age of 28. Those factors along with the recent affluence and subsequent immigration into the country, have made ministry here slow and challenging. It is so refreshing to be with these saints who truly understand what it means to be patient for the Lord's working in his time. They also realize in a profound way that it is the Lord who works and that we are only his instruments. As Americans we are naturally Mr. and Mrs. Fix-its - not so here. They view the world a lot differently than we do and its refreshing to see their perseverance and godliness.

Tuesday afternoon the whole group went on a walking history tour in Dublin (some street performers on Grafton Street and the cathedral at Dublin Castle are pictured to the left). Our subset of the group had a very good guide and she actually made the whole Northern Ireland stuff make sense (but don't ask us to repeat it). We're returning there tomorrow for a prayer walk and some rec time in the afternoon (WE'RE GOING TO ST. JAME'S GATE!!!!!). This afternoon we went with a small group of folks to visit with a church here in Greystones. We heard from the staff there what challenges the church faces and what their current needs are. We spent some time in prayer and now feel a little bit more connected with the people on the ground doing gospel work here.


Tonight we sit in the Beach House Pub drinking Bulmers and Beamish and blogging thanks to some free WiFi. Incedentally, we were here last night too, but we think that is pretty normal for this culture. :-)

Hopefully we'll be able to blog again soon. In the meantime, feel free to check out some picture that we have posted here: http://gallery.me.com/thelaymans. We'll be updating this throughout the week and when we get home. Enjoy!