FourteenIreland: Day #3

Today, Day #3, of our 14 day journey, I would like to share with you a bit about Ireland's spiritual climate. 

As you are probably already aware, there is freedom of religion in Ireland.  The Catholic Church has no official link with the country, though it has a strong, but waning, influence on all aspects of national life.  Click on the picture below for detailed information about the various religions and Christianity makeup of Ireland (taken from the book Operation World).

Ireland is a young country, with half of its population under 28 years old.  The youth's spiritual need is underlined by a dramatic rise in suicides, unwed mothers and marriage breakdowns over the past decade.  The unfoturnate reality is that there plenty of people living life with very little hope.

Thankfully, as Christians, we serve a God of hope.  And through the gift of His Son, Jesus, we have literally been given the Hope of the world.

During His time on earth, Christ said, "I came that they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of" (John 10:10).  Would you join us in praying that the youth of Ireland would get a glimpse into the life God has offered each and every one of us?

FourteenIreland: Day #2

Day #2: The Mullins Family

    

Today, Day #2 of our 14 day journey, I would like to introduce you to the Mullins Family.  In the picture on the left you see Mike and Aster Mullins, as well as their six children.  Andrew Mullins, their 17 month old son, is pictured on the right.

A little more than a month ago, Andrew was diagnosed with a stage-4 cancer know as Neuroblastoma.  This cancer is very agressive and has spread into his bones, spine, skull and stomach.  Since the diagnosis, Andrew has undergone a blood transfusion and several rounds of chemotherapy.

In the midst of all of this, Aster gave birth to their 6th child 4 weeks earlirer than her expected due date.  On March 16th, at 5:12 am, Grace Mullins was born and weighed a healthy 7 lbs!  I am extremely thankful to tell you all that she is doing great!

Obviously, I share this with you all so that you can keep the Mullins family in your prayers.  I also share this with you because Mike is the Director of Operation Mobilization (OM) Ireland, the ministry FCA Golf partners with in Ireland to put on the Ireland Junior Golf Camp.

Since meeting the Mullins family last year, I have deeply respected how strongly rooted their faith in Jesus is.  Over the past month and a half, Mike has made several comments (on a Facebook page he created to keep people informed on Andrew's condition) that have been a healthy and challenging reminder of where we all stand, regardless of our circumstances, when we hold on tightly to Jesus.  I'd like to share a few of these comments with you:

You know in many ways I think the Lord has been preparing us for this.  We may hurt and cry and feel pain like never before, but our world has not fallen apart because our Redeemer lives!

No one is hopeless whose hope is in God.

Even though the Mullins family has a difficult road to walk right now, they know that worry is a burden God never intended us to bear.  Just four days ago, Mike shared the following:

In His word, the Bible, God reminds us that He is walking with us and inviting us to hand over to Him our worries and burdens.  "Cast all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you," (1 Peter 5:7) and "God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19).  What a comfort, what a Saviour.

Would you please pray for the Mullins family right now?  Would you also pray that our team could be an encouragement to them when we arrive in just two weeks?

If you'd like to follow Andrew's journey on the Facebook page Mike created, you can visit it by clicking the following link: Pray for Andrew Mullins (Ireland)

Thank you for partering with us!