http://www.walnutcreekcc.org/index.php/mission_08_blog/ A weblog for updates and prayer requests from our 2008 Spring Mission trips to Spain and Ireland. en andrew@walnutcreekcc.org Copyright 2008 2008-03-23T18:47:00-07:00 http://www.walnutcreekcc.org/index.php/mission_08_blog/post/ireland_video_update1/ http://www.walnutcreekcc.org/index.php/mission_08_blog/post/ireland_video_update1/ Prayer requests Cork, Ireland 2008-03-23T18:47:00-07:00 http://www.walnutcreekcc.org/index.php/mission_08_blog/post/looking_up/ http://www.walnutcreekcc.org/index.php/mission_08_blog/post/looking_up/ Of love… This special day in all of our journals started off with a mini sharing session, followed by the glorious worship time at the park. Looking around the park about 20 minutes into the awesome worship time, there were at least four conversations about God with random people at the park going on, all at once. Being greatly encouraged, I couldn’t help but be amazed at how God was at work, and on top of that, many passers-by were magnetized by the beautiful music God was making through Jake and Matt. I wish you were here, you would have been blown away by the astonishing scene like the rest of us did. Strolling and praying just seem to go pretty well together especially when you’re in a park, so that was exactly what I did. And then God led me to talking to an elder man named John, whom Andrew (Roger) got to share with while we were worshiping. Yes, God knew what He was doing, like He always does. I had a extremely lovely (literally) conversation with him which truly encouraged my soul and undoubtedly prepared my Spirit for all the sweet stuff God put on the path later on. By God’s grace (and purely by that), I was able to understand what he was trying to say to me despite his thick (more like super thick) Irish accent+15-words-per-second speed (just a little exaggerated)+constant repetition. He told me about his family and a little bit about his life in the nursing home with all his children living in the city. Praise the Lord for His sovereignty. During the mini sharing session in the morning, Kerry shared something about the importance of selling the Gospel in light of God’s passionate love for each and every one of us, and how that should be our motivation. And with that reminder set in my mind beforehand, it was a great opportunity for me to just transfer God’s love to him through being attentive to what he was sharing which opened a door for me to share my story, in which God’s love changed my entire life. Sometimes, love means listen, understand, share. If the Lord’s willing, Andrew and I will go see John at the park again before we leave, with a hope that his emptiness would be filled with God’s unfailing love through the precious gift of salvation that we graciously enjoy… every day in our lives. “Do everything in love.” - 1 Corinthians 16:14 Of salvation… Boy this one’s crazy. So we had a pasta party. With some unbelievably luscious choc chips cookies and raspberry swiss-rolls. The dinner opened up MANY doors for quality conversations with people about God. It was pure madness. Five minutes into talking to Ana and Claire from Austria whom I’d been having breakfast with for the past few days, my mind was set on having an immensely fruitful conversation about salvation with them; especially Ana, because I truly sensed that she had a soft heart, which led me to expecting for her salvation, on this very night, even. Plus, Sasha was there laboring with me. And then the two German girls Uli and Elisa walked in each with a can of beer in their hand. Since they were not familiar with most of the brothers and sisters, who were pretty much engaged in different canversations at this time, they came and sat by me and started talking to me like machine guns. “I just want to talk to Ana!” I thought. The Lord is sovereign. Then it became clear to me that I should just obey God with the opportunity He’d laid out right in front of me, and that I should have a focus aimed at these two girls who seemed pretty confortable talking to me. And this was where the craziness detonated. They asked some questions about what our group is going here after I told her we’re on a mission trip. As the conversation developed, Uli was going on and off because something was wrong with her can of beer; there was some weird object in it or something. Praise the Lord this happened. Because of that I got to talk to Elisa more in depth about the need for a Savior and the urgency of it, as well as how God’s love satisfies our famished souls. As I dug deeper and deeper I realized that she came from a broken family, and her mother had been going through some really difficult times and their relationship was marked with cracks. God led the conversation into the intense zone when I started sharing my detailed testimony with her, highlighting the part where Christ’s love overwhelmed and changed my life, and how my hope was found in Him. And most importantly, how God revealed Himself to be real to me through His consistency in answering prayers and guiding my steps through the Word and the Spirit. She admitted her resentment toward Christianity caused by all the evilness (priests molesting little boys claiming that to be the ticket to Heaven, etc) that has been going on in the Catholic churches in her country. And by God’s grace, my deperate passion for her to be saved shone through the words God spoke through me, her hearts was instantly changed, and she was impressed by how one could receive salvation on their own without being forced to do so, like the way it was done in most churches in Germany. She said because of this conviction she had in her heart and the magnificent hope she saw in the Gospel, she wanted Jesus Christ to be her Savior to claim the free gift of salvation. On this special day in history, the angels in Heaven threw a special party for Elisa. Let’s celebrate our new sister accepted into His Kingdom. Please keep praying that the Lord would make her heart a good soil for the seed to grow and mature. Protection from Satan’s plots for destruction. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” - John 15:5 PRAISE THE LORD. Cork, Ireland 2008-03-23T05:26:00-07:00 http://www.walnutcreekcc.org/index.php/mission_08_blog/post/encouragement_from_cork/ http://www.walnutcreekcc.org/index.php/mission_08_blog/post/encouragement_from_cork/ Greetings from the Emerald Isle! Today, Becca, Daphne and Rachel had the opportunity to share with two teenagers, Kirsty and Stephanie. Both girls had soft hearts and were willing to listen to the gospel. God really worked in their hearts and allowed them to see their need for a savior. After realizing they would spend eternity in hell, they wanted to know how to get to heaven. After hearing the truth about Jesus Christ and what He did for them, both girls accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior and were excited to know for certain that they would be in heaven when they die. This was an answer to prayers that had been prayed two hours earlier. PTL! Prayer requests: - Pray for 3 high school boys from Florida that they will become Christians if they haven’t already after hearing the gospel. - Pray for Sam and Kailey that we would have an opportunity for us to share with them and that they would have soft hearts. - Pray that Kirsty and Stephanie would read the Bibles we gave them and share the good news with their families. As they say here in Ireland, “Just go for it!” ( say the ‘for’ like ‘fer’). Gracie Charms Rachel and Daphne checking out!  Cork, Ireland 2008-03-23T01:25:00-07:00 http://www.walnutcreekcc.org/index.php/mission_08_blog/post/the_body_of_christ_at_work/ http://www.walnutcreekcc.org/index.php/mission_08_blog/post/the_body_of_christ_at_work/ Thank you for all of your prayers. Today we had an amazing opportunity to see the body of Christ at work. This morning we went to a park in the main part of the city for praise and worship. Many of us have been praying that people would come up to us, and God provided people for us to talk to. While some were singing, others were able to have conversations with people in the park who were sitting on benches and those who walked up to see what all the singing was about. The Gospel went out many times in that park. God also perfectly orchestrated an opportunity for Kerry and Daphne to meet the “owner” of the park. God put other people in the path of all of us today that were really ready to hear the gospel (see other posts). Dinner was another beautiful opportunity to see the the body at work. Three girls cooked dinner and had it ready when the rest of the group got there around 6:30. We were able to offer pasta, garlic bread, and salad to some of the people staying at the hostel. During dinner and after, we had the opportunity to talk to all of the people in the room. A few people were able to use their Spanish to share the gospel, while others were able to talk to other people from all over the world: New Zeland, Austria, Germany, Canada, etc. At one point, someone counted 10 conversations happening with different people. God used each person in the group. We were even able to bless the front desk worker by cleaning the kitchen afterward. Please pray that the people we were able to meet today would join us for church in the morning and that we would be able to invite more people in the morning at breakfast. We will be attending a church called Lee Valley Bible Church.  Cork, Ireland 2008-03-23T01:21:00-07:00 http://www.walnutcreekcc.org/index.php/mission_08_blog/post/encouragement_from_barcelona/ http://www.walnutcreekcc.org/index.php/mission_08_blog/post/encouragement_from_barcelona/ First an update from earlier this week– we’ve gotten to see the Italian lady who accepted Christ, Clelia, briefly two days and plan on spending quality time with her tomorrow and pray that it would be a good discipleship time.  She didn’t show up to a date we had made with her but ran into her later on the metro (which is crazy!) and Sara got to talk to her briefly about her life and some hard times she is having.  We took some pictures with her and she started crying seemingly just because some people loved her enough to want her picture.  We are praying that she would learn how to read the Bible, get plugged into a church and be a light to her husband. Another update– we spent four hours at a cafe with four of the German girls we met a few days ago.  All of them got to hear the Gospel again and two of them might be believers.  It was encouraging to teach those two girls to read the Bible and obey it, to be set apart from the world, and to share the good news with others.  We are praying that the Lord would use that time to impact their lives for the great commission and growing in their faith. Today, our plans got changed once again - but ALWAYS for the better.  We were supposed to spend time with a friend we shared the gospel with earler this week but he had to cancel on us so we gave him a Bible and a Drake T-shirt.  Later, after taking the wrong train and getting turned around, we broke off into two groups to do cold turkey evangelism for the whole afternoon.  As one of the groups were walking (somewhat aimlessly) we met a guy named Fran who eventually said he wanted to accept Christ later tonight on his own.  Praise God!!!  If we had been there a few minutes earlier we would have missed him… or if we had gotten together with our friend.  This was just another example of how God loves people and is going to direct us to the ones that are seeking him.  Later that afternoon, one of the groups met a young teenager who had such a soft heart and decided she wanted to have a personal relationship with Christ and accepted His gift of salvation.  While talking, she gave an example from the Bible of the 99 sheep and the 1 that left and how God went after the one.  She eventually realized that she was the one sheep he was coming after! After coming back together at night, the two groups shared stories with one another and went and ate some typical Spanish Paella and Tapas.  It was a really encouraging time sharing stories and remembering what the Lord has done this week. Please pray that tomorrow we would get to spend time with Clelia and have some good discipleship time.  Pray also that when we spend time in the evening with some friends Ana and Julia that we would get to continue the conversation we had earlier this week and that God’s love would be demonstrated through us. Barcelona, Spain 2008-03-21T03:12:00-07:00 http://www.walnutcreekcc.org/index.php/mission_08_blog/post/crying_atheists_and_hyped_up_teenagers/ http://www.walnutcreekcc.org/index.php/mission_08_blog/post/crying_atheists_and_hyped_up_teenagers/ Man, I cannot describe how amazing God was today (nor how good He’ll be tomorrow). This morning there was breakfast in the hostel and any and all daring souls got up before 9AM to share a meal with the students and several of us got to share the gospel with people just traveling through. Afterwards we had some small group tie-downs and reflected on what God had done yesterday.  There was at least one guy from yesterday who was going to settle things with God last night after he got home and we are waiting to hear back from him. Later in the day some people went to the college campus and others went to the city. Andrew took his video camera to the streets as him, Heather, and myself went out to ask people spiritual questions.  The second guy we interviewed on camera declared to be an atheist, within two minutes converted to agnosticism, and when he confronted his sin couldn’t help but try to hold back his tears (although an occasional one would come through).  Coming from a divorced family he didn’t want to believe in God’s existence.  Maybe it’s just easier to try to deny God’s existence than deal with personal sin but we are sure this is a conversation he will remember for a lifetime and trust God will sue it down the road. Several others were able to talk with many other people who were receptive to the gospel and thankful for our willingness to talk with them. Later a group of high school students just ran up to us and started talking to us.  They just love Americans and thought we were the nicest, most loving bunch of people.  The love of Christ really shined through the saints into the hearts of many of these high school students! That’s all for now Cork, Ireland 2008-03-21T03:09:00-07:00 http://www.walnutcreekcc.org/index.php/mission_08_blog/post/meeting_more_people_in_ireland/ http://www.walnutcreekcc.org/index.php/mission_08_blog/post/meeting_more_people_in_ireland/ Top of the mornin’ to you!  Things in Ireland have been looking good, but there have been challenges as well.  Here are some encouraging stories from us and some things you can be praying for. Many of us have been praying for people to come up and talk to us during this trip.  Today when we were waiting around to go to dinner a group of four teenagers came up to us and asked us where we were from.  This turned into a one hour conversation where all four got to hear the gospel.  This was a huge blessing and very encouraging.  You can be praying that Kerri will read the track and Bible we gave her.  We also set up a dinner date with them on Monday, which you can pray that they would show up to.Pray that Nellie, a teenager, will accept Christ tonight.  She had the truth shared with her and was only reluctant because her friend was there.Jassey and Kendall got to meet Allison at the student cafeteria.  They were suppose to have a follow up meeting but ended up missing each other and were without each other’s contact info.  Their prayer was that they would run into Allison today and the first person that Jassey saw on campus today was Allison.  They have a tentative dinner date tomorrow, so pray that Allison would show up and the gospel would be shared and that Allison would have a soft heart.Pray for Paul, a guy that Matt and Kerry spoke to.  That they would have a chance to meet again, because Paul’s heart is becoming soft.Tomorrow our group is going to the Blarney Castle with students from the Christian Union on campus.  Please pray that we would have unity with them and be able to encourage them (Terry, we’ll take some pictures for you!).Pray for Easter service, that we would be bold in inviting people and that they would accept our invitations. From O’Droppin’ Bows Bohacek and the Irish Saints Cork, Ireland 2008-03-21T03:05:00-07:00 http://www.walnutcreekcc.org/index.php/mission_08_blog/post/video_from_ireland/ http://www.walnutcreekcc.org/index.php/mission_08_blog/post/video_from_ireland/ The following is a video from our missionaries in Ireland. Cork, Ireland 2008-03-20T13:22:00-07:00 http://www.walnutcreekcc.org/index.php/mission_08_blog/post/a_slower_day_in_barcelona/ http://www.walnutcreekcc.org/index.php/mission_08_blog/post/a_slower_day_in_barcelona/ A slow but good day.  It was predicted to rain, so the park we usually roam in wasn’t inhabited by young people like it normally is.  So, our group decided to spend a lot of time in prayer, pleading our Lord to do great things on the behalf of those we’ve met the past few days. God answered some of those prayers already this evening. Our plans to play soccer for the second night in a row turned out even better than we asked. The kids didn’t want to play; they wanted to talk. We spent a couple hours building relationships with about 5 teenage, Barcelona natives, which allowed them to see the love we have toward each other that comes only from Christ. It was they who asked if we could hang out again tomorrow. Pray that those conversations will lead directly into the topic of grace, as these boys are unknowingly desperate for the Truth about their eternities. We’re imagining an epicenter of Jesus freaks here. Our Brazilian friend, Guelherme, was kind enough to introduce us to some Pentecostal missionaries serving in Barcelona through their local church plant. They have the same dream we do: to see this country reached with the Gospel. Again, it’s encouraging to know we’re not the only church pursuing this goal. Our cell phone died, and since our group is separated from the others who stay in the hostel, we were unable to charge it. Thus, our dinner plans with Flaria didn’t pan out as we’d hoped. Pray that we may contact her tomorrow and that she will have time in her schedule to meet with Jen and me. We ventured into a Christian bookstore, and found Josh McDowell’s book, New Evidence that Demands a Verdict. Hopefully we can find Bruno’s apartment and drop off the copy before we leave on Saturday morning. Come rain or shine tomorrow, we’ll be in the park, hoping to establish new relationships and advance pre-existing ones (unless, of course, the Holy Spirit leads us elsewhere?). Barcelona, Spain 2008-03-20T03:18:00-07:00 http://www.walnutcreekcc.org/index.php/mission_08_blog/post/groups_arrive_in_cork/ http://www.walnutcreekcc.org/index.php/mission_08_blog/post/groups_arrive_in_cork/ Witnessing to a manager of a store of gadgets and sharing the gospel with a professional ballerina were some of the highlights of our trip to Cork for Kerry Poucher and myself (Jake). All the groups have arrived safely and all the bags except for a couple have made their way to us as well. This morning Kerry and I were the last to arrive in Cork. We met up with the rest of the teams and went out for a day of evangelizing on the college campus.  There were just TONS of students hanging out in the common areas outside that we could not talk with everyone.  Some students were cynical, some were disrespectful, but others had a sincere desire to know how to be right with God. Two men, who considered themselves somewhat religious, were amazed by the message of the gospel and had never considered the full meaning of Christ’s death on the cross.  Many God-fearing students it seems are relying on a system of self-righteousness to make them right with God.  Sharing the gospel with people like these men has reminded me of how this work is comparable to the joy of introducing a bridegroom to his bride. The students go on break after tomorrow and so we will not be able to spend a lot of time with them.  There are several meetings already set up though with students and the gospel has gone out on this campus of over 18,000 students. This is the first and only full day where everyone is in Cork.  Tomorrow Tim Rude and Terry Amann will be leaving for home and we will spend the next week laboring without them. It’s late though and time for bed or sharing with people in the hostel, whichever the LORD leads. For His Joy, Jake Bennett Cork, Ireland 2008-03-19T23:20:00-07:00