October Ministry Update – Austria, Ireland and more . . .

October 27, 2011

Dear Friends,

Making our way from Belfast to Dublin, Cathy and I sat across from a gentleman on the train listening intently as he described to us the upheaval in the Republic of Ireland’s society over the past decade.  The Irish, once devotedly Catholic, now bear the shame of multiple scandals that have rocked their society.  The materialistic prosperity that came suddenly with the rise of the “Celtic Tiger” has been completely pulled out from under them.  All of this has left the Irish questioning and spiritually hungry.  For an hour and a half Cathy and I had the opportunity to plant seeds of the Gospel with him.

We arrived in Waterford later that afternoon to meet up with the team that is faithfully ministering there.  That spiritual hunger I described above has led to the establishment of two churches, with one more on the way.  Last summer the team began an initiative in Ferry Bank, a town across the river from Waterford.  Kids clubs began last summer.  They anticipated maybe a dozen children showing up, but when 60 showed up, they where completely taken by surprise.  Currently they have two separate clubs meeting every week.  Plans are in place to start mid-week meetings in November for the adults.

Pray for the team (see part of the team on the left) working in these three church plants.  ECMI-USA appointee, Jessie Sweeny, is raising her support to join this team made of two couples from Australia (one currently raising support in Australia), two single women (one from Australia, the other from Germany), two Dutch couples, and two couples from Northern Ireland.  God is doing something big in Ireland.  Jonathan McCracken, Field Director, is now looking for the next area in the Republic of Ireland for ECMI to consider starting additional churches.

Thank you for your prayers while were gone.  The trip was very productive, not only in Ireland, but also our time at leadership meetings in the UK and Austria.  I have tried to capture in photos below some of the things we did while there.

With grateful hearts,

George for Cathy and the family

P.S. You can now give online to our ministry with ECMI-USA

Check it out:  www.ecmi-usa.org/donate-now

Our trip in a few pictures . . . believe me, we took a lot more.

L to R: 1. Cathy and friend Diane Hakala at Cambridge.  2. Cathy and me in front of the Word of Life Center in Villach, Austria  3. The Leadership group during our prayer walk in Austria, Slovenia and shown here in Italy.  4. The group hard at work. 5. Cathy hard at work in the kitchen with Carrie.  6. Luke Bajenski leads part of the training.  7. We had 5 wonderful hours in Belfast with David.  8. Our hosts Charlie and Miriam Anderson leading the sending section in Northern Ireland.  9. First stop in the south, Waterford of the famous Waterford Crystal.  10. The town of Tramore and  11. Ferry Bank.  12. Our friends Jonathan and Nicola McCracken leading the team in the Republic of Ireland.