This Sunday we welcomed our first guest in Ireland!  Grandma “Mimi” (as our girls say), arrived and will help with “child-minding” (as the Irish say) for a little while.  I guess that’s called “Mimi-minding,” (as I now say).  We are very thankful and it is a real blessing.

Holly travels back to L.A. today to be in the wedding of one of her best friends since college (Congrats Allison & Blake!), and will also get a chance to see her sister Heidi & family who moved there last year.  So in between trips to the Dublin Airport, we all had a quick chance to visit some local castle ruins.

Addie - disappointed after finding out there were no longer any princesses at the castle.

Trim Castle

Partial view from the top - our town Trim

Thank you for your prayers for Trim and for safe travel,

Cheers -

This past Sunday, the church plant we’re serving with – Living Hope – had it’s first baptism service !  Three guys were baptized, and it was an incredible testimony of what God has done in their lives by the power of Christ’s death and resurrection.  Holly was able to take some quick photos, and I’ve posted a few, including what I thought was a great sequence below:

"we were buried with Him through baptism into death, ...

... in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, ...

... we too may live a new life." Romans 6:4

Now that we have been here one month, we are starting to learn the language  I am not speaking of the true Irish/Gaelic language  (of which I think we know one word, “slan” which means goodbye), but of the English slang that is used here.  There are many different words that are used that we are not accustomed to.  The girls have started to pick up a few and are using them in their everyday language.  Greta has started putting on her “runners” and Addie likes to play in the back “garden”.  It is fun to hear them speaking a little Irish, I think it comes more naturally to them than it does to us

Here is a sampling of a few everyday words:

Irish English…. American English

footpath… sidewalk

nappy…. diaper

cot… crib

runners… tennis shoes

jumper… sweater/sweatshirt

trousers… pants

buggy… stroller

boot/bonnet…car trunk/car hood

front garden/back garden… front yard/back yard

garage (same word but pronounced by rhyming with carriage)

cooker… the stove

biscuit… cookie

chips… french fries

crisps… potato chips

spuds… potatoes

rashers… the Irish equivalent of bacon

garda… the police

queue… line

holiday… vacation

slag… tease

press… cupboard

hotpress… the closet that contains the hot water heater

lift… elevator

brilliant/grand/lovely… all can be used to describe something good, you don’t commonly hear the adjectives:  good, great, wonderful, etc.

I hope you enjoyed your Irish language lesson.  I’ll let you know as we learn more

Patience – I think God is teaching us (me) about patience with our visa extension process so far…

Before we left the U.S.:  Call to Irish consulate in Chicago, explained what we were doing – told to check in with local Garda (Police) when we arrive.

Week 2:  1st visit to local Garda station – told to come back that Friday at 11:00 to speak to immigration officer – which we could not make due to prior engagement.

Week 3:  2nd visit to local Garda the following Friday at 11:00 – apparently the immigration officer is not in at the same time each week, told to come back the following Monday at 2:00

Week 4:  Next Monday at 2:00, phoned Garda station, and told to come by around 3:00.  3rd visit to Garda station, finally met with immigration officer.  Told he used to be able to grant visa extensions, but now everything had to go through Dublin.  Given address to immigration office in Dublin…

Fruit is good for you, right ?

Cheers – Jon

“Many are asking, ‘Who can show us any good?’ Let the light of your face shine upon us, O Lord.  You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound.  I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.”  Psalm 4:6-8

In the past week, I have started to read through the Psalms.  The verses above from Psalm 4 hit me as something particularly relevant to Ireland.  Ireland is in the midst of a severe recession / depression.  It’s constantly on people minds, and you hear about it everyday in conversation or on the radio, etc.  I was talking with someone recently who traveled frequently between the U.S. and Ireland who told me that for as tough as it is in the U.S., Ireland would have a particularly tough road ahead.  My own experience so far seemed to confirm this, although I was searching for a way to explain or quantify that.  Today’s news on my Yahoo homepage helps me put this into a economic perspective (see below).  Basically, people think Iraq is a safer bet to repay its debt than Ireland:

Perspective on the Irish depression

Now, that’s not to get carried away obviously, there’s a bigger picture to that story, but it is really insightful.  But the results are very visible.  Outside our apartment front window is the shell of a half-finished apartment building where construction was stopped over a year ago.  But that’s just bricks and mortar.  What we care about is the visible results in the faces of the Irish people we meet.  Many are anxious and asking, “who can show us any good?”  We seek to show them the God who brings true peace, safety, and joy through Jesus Christ, unlike possessions, assets, and governments that will rise and fall.  Please pray that we will minister well in this context.

Unfinished apartment building outside our window

- Jon

The front of the house looking down the street

Several people have been asking what our home looks like here in Ireland… so here are a few pictures for you to see.   It rains nearly everyday with intermittent sun, so we get to see quite a few rainbows!

View of a double rainbow from our bedroom window at the back of the house

The sitting room

The kids' play corner

View of the kitchen from the sitting room

The back garden

Greta's room/Guest room... I hope our guests like pink

Addie's room

Addie loves her "big girl" bed

We are starting to feel pretty well settled in our new home.  The house came furnished with most of the furniture and we were very blessed to have been donated most of the linens, kitchen things and toys for the girls.   I am still learning a few Irish cultural things (like making the perfect pot of tea), but more about that in another post.  We would love to have any visitors, so consider this an open invitation!

Sorry for the delay in posting.  We have been without consistent internet for several days now, but hopefully that will change soon.  The wireless setup we had been testing didn’t work well, and so we are now waiting for eircom (Irish phone / internet ) to set up our new account within in the next couple days.  I’m currently at a local hotel with free wifi

Anyhow, now that we’re a little more settled, we’re becoming more active with the ministries we’re here in Ireland to serve with.  It’s been a good week that has filled up quickly.  On Monday and Tuesday I began actively working on helping our church with several administrative tasks that will be critical as our young church grows.  Yesterday and today, Holly and I were out at Drewstown House – the nearby Christian retreat center we will also be serving at.  They are re-opening this center after recent work & renovations, and hoping to attract nearby community / school / and church groups.  On Wednesday we received an introduction to the high ropes course they have set up and learned several group games and activities they use.  Today, a group of 35 teens from a local school were there.  Holly put her college R.A. (dorm resident assistant) training to good use by helping take several groups of teens through games and a challenge course.  I worked with a team to take 18 teens through a high ropes course 30′ up in the trees (always a good time to pray).  Both groups of students had a blast! We are thankful to have several very capable and experienced trainers to help Holly and I learn how to work with these groups.  That’s it for now, active days require some sleep -

Thank you for all your continued prayers.  And thank you Knightsbrook hotel for your free wi-fi !

Cheers,

Jon

Yesterday we moved into our new place – a huge answer to prayer.  After 3 + weeks of living out of a suitcase we have a place to unpack at.  Email us and we’d love to send you our new mailing address in Ireland !  Here is a quick pic:

our apartment

Now that we have a place to live, we officially have neighbors (many in fact in the neighborhood development).  I took our youngest daughter Addie on a walk this evening in our new neighborhood.  We passed the homes of people we don’t yet know, just seeing their address numbers from the street.  We’re praying for and looking forward to meeting the names and faces of the people behind those numbers.  Please pray for those introductions and connections to be made especially these next couple weeks.

We have several more answers to prayer to share with you:

-we are starting to catch up on sleep as everyone’s body clocks adjust.

-we attended our first service this week at Living Hope Church and met several new people.

-we have been given a car (see below: an Opel 1.4L Astra for any car enthusiasts) to use temporarily for the next week until we find a permanent one soon – thanks Abigael !

our temporary car

-we’ve had gracious temporary housing (pictured below) for this past week in Trim, and we hope to move into an apartment later this week –  Thanks Ciaran and June!

our friend's house we're staying at temporarily

-we’ve starting to meet new friends.  A classmate from Greta’s preschool invited the girls over for a birthday party this past week.  Greta and Addie had a blast, and we enjoyed meeting another young family with kids.

Greta and a new friend with face's painted after the b-day party

- Jon

”we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed…” (1 Cor. 15:51)

My tongue-in-check reference to this verse helps describe our adjustment to the time change over here.  It has been a challenge, particularly for Addie, our 2 year old.  I think we’ve gotten 8 hours of sleep in the last 4 nights combined with her (including over-night flight over).  Your prayers would be appreciated  We’ve been told it usually takes a day for each hour of time difference.   6 hours ahead = 6 days, or hopefully no more than 2 days to go before she’s back on schedule.

We looked at 5 potential places to live yesterday, and hope to look at a couple more today.  We’ll post as soon as the right one is found.  Please pray for wisdom during this process, we trust God will open up the door (pun intended) to the right place we’re meant to be.  Last night I (Jon) was able to attend a bible-study at one of the church member’s homes that lasted until past 11 p.m.   Things in Ireland last later into the night, which is great because we’re night owls.  It was a great time of fellowship, and a wonderful opportunity to meet more people.

Today, Greta had her first day of pre-school in Ireland:

She felt right at home when she saw horses in a field next to the school (as well as a toy riding horse in the playroom).  Let’s just say horses are about her favorite thing in the world:

There’s also 12th Century ruins in the field next to the preschool.  Maybe she will share her dad’s love of history! (or just ignore it).

Thanks for your prayers and support !