Over spring break, I had the opportunity to go on a mission trip with Chi Alpha to Dublin, Ireland!
I took so many pictures, and we did so much every day that I'll have to split up our adventure into several posts. So grab a cup of coffee for a few minutes and get ready for gorgeous scenery and and some words on what God is doing in Ireland.
The trip was through Chi Alpha with a team of 11, including our pastor and intern. We would be working with American missionaries Blake and Katy who moved to Ireland to do long term missions with Students For Christ (equivalent to Chi Alpha). Throughout the week, we were involved with the main Protestant church there in Dublin, as well as working with the campus leaders/directors of several universities in the city.
Some background on the mission field:
Europe is one of the most spiritually dead places on earth. I used to think people who went on mission trips there just used that as an excuse for a vacation. Europe is a well-developed area without the poverty of a third world country, so the need for Christ is easily overlooked when they have all that the world has to offer. Less than 1% of Ireland's population are evangelizing Christians. They have a strong Catholic background rich with religious history; but because of many recent scandals in the church over the last hundred years, many people have rejected God and religion completely.
The people there are extremely relational; we found that everyone was friendly and approachable on the outside, but that it takes years to build a relationship that lets you in to their inner core. Generally they hold a cynical view toward religion and others' opinions. That being said, we couldn't approach people with a direct explanation of the Gospel as you would expect to do on a mission trip. That approach would immediately turn them off to any sort of conversation. Instead, we listened. We took surveys of their opinions and views and stories which usually sparked conversation on the topic of religion. Our job was to plant a seed and pray that God would use these seeds as a part of their testimony. Because we wouldn't be seeing any immediate results, it was hard to feel like we were being useful; but the campus leaders reminded us that God had been at work in these students' lives long before we arrived. We could trust that the work we were doing on His behalf would not be wasted.
One of my favorite parts of the trip was just learning the differences in culture and the various strategies of evangelism that were used. It was important to cater to the culture and learn what would be effective here versus in America. Getting to talk to students on campus was so much fun and really grew my love for the people there. My heart hurts for those who don't know Him. Please be in prayer for Ireland!
This trip also grew my love for the Lord... I'm so thankful for the purpose He gives. I could say I went to Ireland because I wanted to travel and see the world, but that reason alone would not be enough to sustain me while doing the kind of work we did. Our team went because we love God and want others to know Him, and I think that's really beautiful.
So that's the basic summary of the mission work. I'll be posting day by day summaries hopefully within the next week, but they'll be mostly photo heavy. This post is long enough as a very general explanation of what God is doing in Ireland. Please feel free to message me to hear more details... I'd love to share with you!
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