Category: Mission
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A Better Inheritance than Stability
As I write, the warm glow of the fire fills the room. Through a crack between the curtains I can see the dark outside. As is to be heard on the lips of many an Irishman at this time of year (amidst other colloquialisms regarding the general discontentment with whatever weather patterns exist on a…
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Visa Delays and Kingdom Readiness
It was surprisingly mild for a September night at 2am as I walked down the country roads in the eerie, yet serene, silence of the “wee hours”. Darkness, our old friend, does have a sound of silence. It has a way of simultaneously stilling us with its abrupt ending to our vision, focusing our attention…
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A Call for a Holy Imagination
Imagination. For some, this can be a touchy word in Christian circles. Not all appreciate the tales of Lewis and Tolkien that bring Christian truth to bear on our lives through use of imaginary stories. Others are wary of an imagination that runs wild in the things of Scripture, putting forward more conjecture than fact.…
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The Sacrifice of Sending
Sacrifice is a foolish thing. To the uninitiated it appears to be a frivolous expenditure of the best, with nothing to show for it. From humble shopping to high-end business transactions, a deal may be good or bad depending on the return on investment. But even the most clueless investor would laugh at the idea…
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The Wisdom of God in Movement
Recently I did three posts on responses that people have given to our leaving for the foreign mission field. Namely regarding: risk, sacrifice, and prayer. Having mulled over things, I’ve decided to add one final response. And while others have expressed the following sentiments, it is something that has elicited the strongest pushback from another…
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They Just Don’t Make Them Like They Used To…
In the last post, I spoke about one attitude that we have received from a number of people, which responds negatively to the risk that moving overseas brings. I will do a third post on the overwhelmingly majority response which we have received (which is incredibly positive and encouraging), but today I am going to…
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It’s a Dangerous Business Frodo
“Mum, I know what I want to be when I grow up,” seven year old Dónal excitedly said, as my mother tried to stop me from twisting round while she dried my hair. “I want to be a spy for MI6, just like James Bond!” “Oh Dónal, no, no, that kind of job is very…
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Thinking Strategically Is Not Just For Missionaries
“For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you…. but with toil and labour we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you…
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Worth One Minute of Glory
Last year I had one particular week that was somewhat conflicting. I had been listening in online to a large Christian conference that had delegates from all over the world. It was an incredibly encouraging few days of hearing how God was, and is, at work across the globe. My heart was lifted up and…
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Others Appear Later
I have written the last couple of posts on the topic of our waiting to head out to the mission field. One final thought on this matter. I am thankful that our sending church did not seek to hasten things along. I am reminded of the most horrible aircraft I ever worked on. It was…
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Add Tools To Your Kit
“8 years. That’s the average length of time it takes someone to get to the field after they start making steps. I was told that when I was starting out, and it was true for me!” These were the words of one person who discipled me, themselves a full-time worker sent to Ireland many years…
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Wait Well With Wisdom
At the time of writing this post, we are (DV) 68 days away from moving overseas to South Asia. It has been a strange last year or so, anticipating these last moments in Ireland. Over the years, as we have taken steps, and seen doors open for moving abroad there has been a strange dichotomy…
Imitators of Those 