Author: Dónal
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Fat and Forgetful
Yesterday a friend back home in Ireland shared with me about the heaviness of heart that accompanies opportunities to share the Gospel. He described how friends, neighbours and co-workers could sit, happy to attend a Christian event, and yet remain completely unmoved by the Gospel call. He wondered if it was fair to compare the…
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3 Months In
Yesterday marked the 3-month mark in our new land. On any given day, 3 months is just a few days, or a quarter of a year. While it has always felt incredibly, blessedly, normal to be here, occasionally it hits home that now we live here. After all the years of praying, dreaming, planning, praying,…
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The Bridling of Death
Why are we, in the West, so uncomfortable with death? Last year Dee and I took a short break in Portugal. It was outside of tourist season, so it was easy to relax. In this Atlantic coastal area, there was plenty to do and see. One day we hiked along the cliffs, as the sun…
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The Master of the Nets
On a lakeshore in Northern Israel stood two men; two experts in their respective fields. One, a fisherman who could mend a net with his eyes shut, who could stand in his vessel on choppy waters without losing balance, who knew the feeding times of the many shoals hidden beneath the surface, whose calloused hands…
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Bearing Our Father’s Name
I remember my first visit to South Asia. Travelling around the various cities of the country, we visited church after church, house after house, conference after conference for a solid twelve days. Throughout those dusty days and humid evenings, I was introduced to many of my brothers and sisters whom I had never met. Some…
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A Call for the Long, Hard & Slow Work
I recently attended a conference for workers in our area of the world. There was some really wonderful teaching, encouraging reports, and thought-provoking break-out sessions. Overall, it was a blessing. However, one session in particular gave me a new way of framing my own story; and not in a positive way. In the early 1970s…
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Moses’ First Christmas
Did Moses look on that first Christmas night? A man who knew what it was to live in the tension of the come-yet-stay-away God, he wandered the wilderness, beckoned by God from the bush, yet immediately warned, “do not come near“. He learned early to hide his face, afraid to look at the God he…
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The Extraordinarily Ordinary Spirit
I place a high value on the ordinary means of grace. The ordinary means of grace are those things that God has given as regular, often non-spectacular, rhythmic events that form and shape our spiritual lives. They are the slow dripping of water to erode a rock, the steady flywheel of an engine that keeps…
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Caught Before Taught
A sunny Friday afternoon in April 2011 found me sitting on the lawn at the back of someone’s house, quite bewildered. It was a youth weekend away, or at least, it was meant to be. I had arrived at the house of those organising it along with some friends. To be honest, at this point…
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A Voice in the Wilderness
As daytime eased into nighttime, the animals began to sing their song. In this oasis of greenery, situated outside the capital city with all its clamour of horns honking, sellers shouting, power-tools working… there was peace. During the day, we had walked around the beautiful gardens of the retreat centre, our kids insisting on swimming…
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The First 24 Hours
The golden glow out the window disappeared as the plane descended into the eventide shadows. Delayed, but not excessively, we hauled from the aircraft our heavy bags, (over-the-limit hand luggage, making use of as much space as possible), as well as our heavy eyelids, which surely had bags beneath. The dry, filtered air of the…
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A Prayer for the Families of Missionaries
God our Father, You have brought us into your family by adoption, through your everlasting love. Christ our brother, You are not ashamed to call us your siblings, despite our constant shameful behaviour. Holy Spirit, our guarantor, You remind us of our position in the family of God, and of the inheritance that belongs to…
Imitators of Those 