Grace and peace to you, friends, from a wet and cold afternoon in Ireland... but we are still smiling! Why wouldn't we? We have much to be thankful for...
“Don’t forget the LORD!” said Moses to the Israelites when they stood on the threshold of entering the land of promise.
10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. 11 Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God… [Deut. 8:10-14]
In a season of thanksgiving these verses always resonate. The holiday of Thanksgiving, though not without its cultural and historical complications, is an opportunity for all of us to remember the LORD. To give thanks.
It is good to give thanks to the Lord, says our liturgy, because He is worthy of it, and giving thanks “keeps us in our place”—so to speak—as wholly dependent on the gracious provision and care of our kind God, least we forget.
Our ministry in Ireland has “multiplied” for the better this past while. In sharing some of these developments with you we are also giving thanks to the Lord for His goodness to us.
Our community continues to grow. We are regularly hitting over the 100 mark for Sunday worship with an influx of children we barely have room to host. Some Sunday’s have seen 50 children arrive for Sunday worship—that’s a big jump from starting with 6. But our worshiping life together has been rich this past while with people coming to, and growing in, faith.
We now have four well attended Bible studies that happen throughout the week. Interestingly, these mid-week groups have become missional as a good number of those who attend don’t come to our church just yet.
In September we baptized four new believers on a very chilly afternoon. This year we have also celebrated 4 weddings as a community, and had the privilege of providing marriage counselling for all these new couples.
In the pictures below are Daniel and Arais, they were married and baptized this year!
The Church of the Nazarene is a global denomination. Some of the regional leaders for Europe have been greatly encouraged by what is happening in Ireland. In October we welcomed a group of leaders for a retreat. It was great to share with them all that God has been doing and to dream together about how God might be leading us to grow churches and ministry beyond Greystones to the whole country. We were encouraged by their visit and eager to see what God is going to do. (I'm not in the photo below because I took it 😂)
Many of you know that we need to improve our current building facility to better serve our existing ministries and enable new ones. Building costs in Ireland are staggering, not to mention the town where we serve is one of the most expensive parts of Ireland to live in. Our bill for our development is close to 3 million euro. However, we were immensely encouraged by a designated gift we receive of €500k toward our building. This gift was given to us by the Nazarene Church from a fund that exists called the Alabaster Fund, which supports bricks and mortar projects across the globe. It was affirming to receive such a sizeable gift, and we do indeed give thanks to God. Now we wait for the other 2 million 😂.
The image below on the left is our new proposed building extension. The building on the right is our existing building.
Our family is doing really well. After four years we are finally feeling settled. Ida recently turned 6 and is looking forward to taking part in a big ballet show soon. Cohen is now 8 and has recently taken up the drums—I now have greater appreciation for my mother’s patience when I was learning many moons ago. Little Rhys is just passed 3 and is still settling in to pre-school but can name all his friends—just ask him.
On a personal development for me, God continues to provide opportunities for me to make and perform music. It is a collision of kindness to me, that I can pursue my vocation as a pastor and pursue my passion for the creative arts. I recently played a sold out concert at a venue in Dublin called Whelan’s that I have wanted to play since I was a teenager. I was also invited to a youth prison where I played some songs and shared some testimony. Making music gets me out on the street and among people that I find enhances my ministry. I hope to release some more new songs in 2025 because, for some mad reason, people want to listen.
Lastly, it was great to make a quick stop dash to West Michigan where I met with ministry partners and colleagues in missions. It was refreshing and encouraging to be reminded we are not on our own over here, but there is a host of supportive people praying and walking alongside us as we together co-labor with Christ for the advancement of the Kingdom.
We give thanks for all this, for you and for God’s continual upholding.
Happy Thanksgiving and blessings to you all!
Luke, Kelsey, Cohen, Ida and Rhys
Pray With Us
Will you join us in giving thanks:
For the season of growth and renewal at our church.
For the Alabaster gift the Church received.
For new opportunities that we are being presented with to minister inside and outside the church.
Will you continue to join us in praying:
Pray that our church growth would not just be numerical but deeply spiritual. Pray for lives to be continually transformed by the gospel of Jesus.
Pray for provision for us as a family, but also for the building plans for our church.
Pray that we would continue to experience the power and wisdom of the triune God as a church in Greystones, Ireland.
Join Us
If you desire to support our family through prayer, finances or by simply keeping in touch, you can do so by clicking HERE.
