Ireland

Carie Canfield News

How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news. Romans 10:15

From my Heart to Yours

Carie M. Canfield Team Expansion- Ireland July 2005

Wow! I can hardly believe that summer (at least our most active part) is over. We here in Ireland usually slow down in the moth of August, after our summer interns leave and just take it easy. But before we get into August let me take you back over July and share with you some of the really cool things that happened here.

July started with a bang. Our team got together for a BBQ on the fourth, and had loads of fun getting to know each other better. But the focus quickly shifted from fun to work as the second week of the month would be filled with Holiday Bible Club as well as Alternative to Boredom, two completely different, completely crazy weeklong youth events.

HBC is always a great time to reconnect with the little ones that don’t cross our paths as often as some of the older kids. It is also a great opportunity to meet new kids and by default new parents. The week is a lotto pull off though and with camp on the horizon, it is a very busy time. This year we not only had our team of summer interns available to help shoulder the load, we had lots of extra hands. Becky and Rachel, friends of Nicole’s, came over for the week as well as Betsy and Sara two of Team Expansion’s member care interns. With all of the extra hands and some amazing preparation and leadership from Julie Bates, HBC went off without a hitch.

Joel Bates headed up ATB, and for our big building project this year we built three ski ball tables. Once they are complete we donate them to the two camps that we use regularly and keep one for our youth club. The theme for the week was reflect…continuing on from the light vs. dark theme that we had at our weekend campout in June. The interns presented the lessons and there were some great discussions with the kids that came about as a result of the teaching and the week. As the feedback came in I was amazed at how well these kids had responded to the teaching and the setup of the week. One lad in particular shared with me how impressed with the way in which we encouraged the kids to examine what it is they were reflecting without condemning them for not already knowing and having it right. The whole week went really well and was a blessing to the staff as well as the kids.

The following week held several goodbyes and loads of work. With just 6 short days before we would leave for Avoca, the village in which our camp venue is located, there was much to be done. I was in charge of the running and planning of summer camp, a wonderfully rewarding yet immensely challenging task. Luckily I have run several camps over the years, and the staff that I had to work with was amazing. The camp would be small in number as most of our camps are, but it would be huge in moments and opportunities for intimacy. With the number of adults almost matching the number of campers, we were given a great opportunity to get to know the kids on a far closer level

than we do on Friday nights. We were also able to get a better feel for how the kids were responding and what they were taking out of our main sessions and the electives that had been prepared for the week. Joel provided the main sessions and the theme continued on with the emphasis for the week being Shine. Our morning electives focused on Creation vs. Evolution with the hopes that we would be able to dispel some of the lies that these kids are being taught in their schools.

In addition to some amazing teachings, the week of camp was filled with a ton of fun. There was the annual canoe trip down the Avonmore and Avonbeg River. There was a trip to the beach with a picnic lunch, swimming in the arctic pool, braving of the climbing wall and zip line, and so much more. It was a blast. The general feeling was that this was one of the best camps that we have put on yet. I have to say that with the amazing staff that we had there were very few hiccups or hangups, and the week was a roaring success.

With camp over and the interns departure looming there was just enough for a brief 4 day holiday to the south west of Ireland. The gang was able to visit Blarney castle, Bunraty castle and folk park, the Cliffs of more and the Dingle Peninsula. The trip was filled with good friends, amazing sights, and loads of laughter and craic (that’s Irish for fun).

I have to admit that this has been one of the best summers that I have experienced out of the five that I have been here. But as the saying goes, all good things come to an end, and on Monday the 8th the interns headed back to the states. This was a particularly hard day, because we not only had to say goodbye to the interns, but to Nicole, who had been here for a year helping the Nichols family. The house is so quiet and the days seem a bit longer, but the one thing that will always remain is the opportunity to minister.

As we look ahead, the fall seems quite daunting. Joel and Julie Bates are making their final preparations to leave. They depart September 6th, and as of right now incoming staff are quite a ways off. So as we reflect on the summer and look to the future, we remember Gods faithfulness and provision and we press on with faith knowing that where ever God plans to take us he has every intention of doing so holding our hands and when necessary carrying us.

Hands and feet in Ireland, Carie

W.I.N.G.S.

W.I.N.G.S. By: Shirley Thompson

    W.I.N.G.S. stands for Women Inspiring & Nurturing Growth Spiritually. For over four years we have been meeting on Thursday mornings studying the Word, praying, and challenging each other to grow in our relationship with Jesus. Philip and I returned to Dublin in 1999. I became aware that in all the churches there were women very involved in ministry and receiving no fellowship or encouragement.

   The Protestant subculture here values hard work and has high standards for women in every area of their lives, with little concern for individual growth. The catholic ladies are the backbone of the parish. They volunteer in the schools, visiting the sick, being a support to the overworked priests. Very few of these women from either tradition have a personal relationship with Christ. In fact many have layers of misconceptions about God and Christ. So when three ladies with vibrant faith from the Methodist Church said they would like to start meeting weekly I was thrilled. They were nervous about ‘Bible Study’ at first. Just about every Irish woman I’ve met feels intimidated about the Bible. So we did devotional topics at first. 

   Over the years our numbers have gone up and down with a high of 23 members. We have done a few book studies and a variety of topical ones. Every year we try to have a few special events of particular interest to women. Some high-lights have been an evening with a lovely talk by Donna Cole, a Saturday of fun at a holiday home in the country, and this Saturday we will visit a beautiful park and have lunch. Our unique quality is the fact we are truly multi-denominational and happy. This is a very rare accomplishment. And have we helped each other grow?

   Let me list some of the developments that have been influenced by W.I.N.G.S. One member is now Sunday School Superintendent at the Methodist church and she has enrolled in an evening Bible Course this fall. Another has continued and deepened her involvement with Scripture Union by running a club in her daughter’s school and other activities. One member accepted a position with the Methodist church as a pastor to Immigrant women in the city center. Another hosts a cell group in her home as a part of her parish. Yet another initiated and continues to run Alpha courses in her parish. And many of our ladies are involved in developing and expanding the` Moms In Touch’ group in our local High School.

   Finally I’ll just mention Jeanette who is now the volunteer secretary at the Baptist church. My next door neighbour has recently started to attend. She has a lot of difficult questions and doubts. Please keep her in your prayers as we try to gently lead her to a living faith in Christ. Also several of our ladies have very difficult situations at home. Please pray for their witness and courage to persevere.

   We sincerely thank you for your prayers and interest.

Plowing

Plowing

by Joel Bates

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Recently I was talking with a fellow kingdom worker about the difficult spiritual soil of Western Europe.  I had come to Europe with an understanding that these were post Christian regions, swept by winds of modern, humanist thought.  I held the opinion that much (noteworthy) work would be done but yield small amounts of fruit.  After talking with my friend and looking at God's heart for the lost, I have a new slant on the ministry of the post-Christian places.

Paul said that he planted, Apollos watered but God made it grow (1 Corinthians 3:6).  God makes the kingdom grow because He desires all people to be brought to salvation.  He doesn't give up on a part of the world that has seemingly given up on Him.  But in fact, the "post Christian" parts of the world are not post Christian, but merely a generation that is tired of the religiosity and ritual of organized Christian religion.  But this is not true Christianity.  True, the early church had the advantage of being a new, fresh movement, but as a true follower of Jesus a person always has a fresh approach to offer someone who has never experienced life in Christ.  What the "post Christian" world is really saying is that too many Christians are not living a truly dynamic, different, and God centered life.  And as a result the "post Christian" person takes a look at the same old thing and says, "I don't want any of that."  So how can we reach a culture that thinks they have us Christians all figured out?  Two simple, yet pivotal ideas taken from the early church might help.

As one of the leaders of the early church in Jerusalem, James teaches some key principles in cultivating tough spiritual soil.  In order to show Christ to the world, we have to put our faith on display by actually doing something (James 2:14-26).  What the early church did was sell their possessions and give money away and celebrate hospitality and take care of the poor and be a family to those without one and share physical burdens and many other attention getting practices.  And every person, the world over, has needs like this that the body of true believers can and must fulfill.

The other idea James relates is to display faith by actually saying something about Christ.  The untameable tongue is often used for evil.  I too often slander people, dragging their name through the mud.  The world sees this and wonders how I'm different, as I claim to be.  As true Christians, our mouths are supposed to be a source of fresh water, a tool for building others up and encouraging others (Ephesians 4:29).  Besides speaking well of each other the early church made a practice of speaking out in the name of Jesus.  They were not qualified to speak out, but they spoke nonetheless (Acts 4:13).  And as a result the church began to grow daily even though the soil they plowed was tough.

As I came away from discussing the topic of spiritual farming with my friend I realized three things I need to improve on in order to reach the "post Christian".  I must have faith people can see, faith people can hear, and faith that just keeps a hand to the plow even if the field looks rocky.

A Different Kind of Church?

by Mark Nichols

One of the great things about mission work is that there is always a fresh challenge just around the corner.  We are continually looking for the best way to reach the lost here in Ireland.  Now the easiest approach is to try and take what you have seen work in the USA and plug it in here.  Maybe it will work, but more likely it will not.  It is a continual struggle not to take what we are familiar with (The American Church) and just duplicate it over here.  It is not that we are re-inventing the wheel but rather that we have to find just the right wheel for the Irish culture.  After all, what are that chances of taking our neighbor's spare tire and it fitting your car?

For example we minister to nearly twice as many people during the week as we do at our Sunday service.  We have more adults at our mid-week Bible studies and more teen-agers at our youth groups than we have of either of these groups on the weekend.  We have experienced good growth with our adult Bible studies but that has not translated to our weekend worship service.  Now the primary reason for this is that people feel comfortable attending bible studies because the Catholic church does not offer them.  Whereas they do offer a weekend service and for many of our new people they are not ready to totally leave the Catholic church.  So the apparent need is for Bible study and for Christian Community.

So what would happen if our church focused more on being a center of learning and equipping?  It seems there is an open door for this kind of ministry.  Now if we insist on our Sunday service being our main focus and entry point to the church then we will be shutting the door on many people.  What does the Church look like when you have a ministry to 40 in small groups and only 25 at your worship service?  So we are looking at a paradigm shift.  It seems apparent that if we want to bring as many people as possible into a saving relationship with Christ, then we need to change the way we do church.  In the end it is about making disciples and not about how big our worship service is.  So we are prayerfully looking at some shifts in focus for the Dublin Christian Fellowship.  New wine skins to reach new people.

Thompson April Report

Celtic Style Service
The combined DCF/Le Cheile Celtic style service on April 9th went very well.  The hall looked completely different with the chairs laid out in a semi-circular pattern surrounded by tables displaying symbols the early church and a wall-hanging with a Celtic cross on it (kindly made by our friends at Southwest Christian Church), all illuminated by candle-light.

We opened with the ringing of a hand bell as a call to worship followed by a 6th century Irish prayer of protection chanted to the beat of a traditional bodhran drum.  A time of praise and worship was followed by an early Christian Greek penitential chant ‘Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison.’ (Lord have Mercy. Christ have Mercy.) After a short sermon we joined together to say the Lord’s Prayer in Irish. This was followed by a liturgical communion service, with Irish language elements and early Irish prayers.  As well as three Le Cheile people we had a lady from WINGS and a family visit especially for the service.  Six other families were not able to make it, but say they would like to attend future services.  In Ireland this frequently can be interpreted as “I like the idea and I’m interested, but I don’t want my hopes raised, so I’ll wait and see how it goes before I commit myself!!!”  We have decided to do another service on June 19th to try to build on this foundation.

Teamwork
We are continuing to work together as a team to finalize our strategic planning for the next one, three, and five years. The Team Expansion Ireland team does a combined newsletter, quarterly, in which you will hear from each team member. We will be sending this out with our May report.

Wedding
The BIG event for us this month was the marriage of our daughter Mary to Robert Magness on April 27th.  They had asked me to perform the ceremony and requested a Celtic style service.  The Centenary Methodist Church, where Shirley and I were married, kindly let us use the building they share with an Episcopal congregation, a beautiful, romantic church with an organ and stained glass windows etc…There were about 80 at the service including seven of their friends and two of ours from California.  The weather forecast for the day was very bad, but prayers by Shirley’s parents, who were unable to travel from Arizona, prevailed and we had a lovely sunny day.  As I was presiding, Shirley walked Mary up the aisle, and gave her away.  During the service we incorporated part of the prayer ‘St. Patrick’s Breastplate’, rang the bell of truce, prayed a prayer of peace, and invoked an ancient Irish blessing.  I preached from Ephesians chapter 5:1-2 on being imitators of Christ’s love. At the end the bridal party surrounded the couple for an encircling prayer.  Rebecca was a gorgeous bridesmaid and Sarah a very cute and well behaved flower-girl.  Many guests commented that it was the best wedding they had ever been to. Afterwards we had a reception meal for 55 guests at the Clontarf Castle Hotel.  In the 13th century this castle belonged to the crusader Knights Templars.  Later we had an evening reception with dancing there in the Drawbridge Tavern.  When it all finished I stayed on talking with three seekers and two lapsed church members till 3:30am.

Family
It has been a joy having Mary and our new grand-daughter Cecelia stay with us for two weeks.  Robert had to head back two days after the wedding to help take care of his mother.  She is being discharged from the rehabilitation clinic on May 5th.  She still has a lot of recovery ahead of her. Shirley’s parents in Phoenix are facing into a difficult time as her father has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. They are hoping to move into assisted living as soon as a place opens up. We are making plans for Shirley and the girls to visit them in the near future to assess the situation and help them with the move.

Please Pray

• For Mary and Robert as they return to the stresses of life in California.
• For Robert’s mother Shari, as she continues to recover from her stroke.
• For Shirley’s parents as they deal with the onset of Howard’s Alzheimer’s disease.
• For the next Celtic style worship service on June 19th.
• For Paddy and Dan, that the may continue seeking until they find!

Praise the Lord with us

• For a glorious wedding that was all it could have been.
• For His blessing on the Celtic style worship service.

- Philip and Shirley Thompson, Team Expansion, Dublin, Ireland

Meet Nicole Clayton

    Hello and greetings to all.  My name is Nicole Clayton.  I am a graduate of Roanoke Bible College class of 2004.  My first introduction to Team Expansion and the Ireland Team was the summer of 2003.  I was part of a Pathways internship and learned to love Ireland.  Kelly Nichols asked me to return to serve as a nanny for the Nichols children and be a caregiver for the family during Kelly's illness.

   I was accepted by Team Expansion and after raising support was able to Ireland on September 7, 2004.  Kelly's health had deteriorated seriously, but I found that her faith remained steadfast.  I was blessed to spend 2 and a half months with Kelly before she went to be with the Lord.  She was one of the greatest women I have had the privilege of knowing.  After her passing, I stayed on and served as Kasey and Madison's nanny and have helped with cooking and housekeeping.

   Even though I arrived in Ireland with less than 34% of the support that had been budgeted for my work, God has provided on so many levels.  It has been hard to be away from my family, but God's family is large and all embracing.  For that I am humbled and thankful.

   I will be heading home to Virginia in August, 2005.  During Paul Stiener's visit in March, I talked with him about the possibility of working with the campus ministry he hopes to start at the University here in Dublin in 2006.  You never know.  God may bring me back to be a part of that.  I do not know what the future holds for me in Ireland, but I do know that God has everything under his control and His will is perfect.

Meet Stephen Capps

     Hello.  My name is Stephen Capps, and I am an intern here in Ireland.  I arrived  on January 25th, and I will be here until June 7th.  I am a senior at Ozark Christian College, working towards a Bachelor's of Biblical Literature with a double major in Biblical Literature and Missions.  I have always had an interest in Ireland and always wanted to come, even before I became interested in mission work.  While I'm here I will be working a lot with the youth, helping with the multimedia aspects of our church services, and doing my best to help the team in any way I can.

MENS GROUP

About a year ago we began a new men's group.  And since it's beginning it has been a wonderful group.  We had four new guys join us and there has been a wonderful dynamic.  It has been so rewarding to see men who have never taken a look at God's word, studying it for the first time.  They have such a sense of wonder and excitement for God's word.  There is no greater thrill than seeing another child of God coming into a personal relationship with Him.  Now, months later, it makes me smile to hear their testimonies to the goodness of God or what He did in their life just a few hours ago.  It makes me smile even more when they start talking about how they see such a need for their fellow Irishmen to really come to know the Lord.  Our men's and women's small groups are something we are taking a fresh look at as they have seen a lot of growth.  We are looking at how we could use them as outreach groups.  We are still wrestling with the answer to that question but the Lord will give us an insight and wisdom.

              - Mark Nichols

New Beginnings

As a family we are entering a new phase, a phase without Kelly.  Kelly too is entering a new phase, a phase where she abides in the Lord's presence.  It is the same experience that we all await.  As for the girls and me, we are doing better than expected.  We miss her very much and the house seems empty and cold regardless of how many people are in it or what temperature it is. 

But little by little spring is returning to our hearts and laughter is becoming more common.  Our routines are changing and we are leaning more on each other.  We still believe that God has been so very good to us.  Please keep us and our recovery in your prayers.

              - Mark Nichols

Bates Greeting from Ireland

     This Sunday morning was gray, windy, cold and rainy but fortunately the weather does not reflect our status!  We are doing well and have been very blessed by recent visitors and successful ministry.  Here are a few things you can pray about on our behalf.

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Praises:

• Thank God for the way he has provided for Julie's parents, sister, and brother-in-law in the two months after fire destroyed their home.
• Easter weekend brought a special Good Friday service and a church breakfast before the Sunday morning worship. 
• Easter camp began the Monday after Easter.  The camp met in a local community hall all day, Monday through Friday.  Because we were not away for the whole week, more kids were able to participate and several came who had not attended camp before.      

        (Easter camp)

• We had a great visit with Wayne and Greta Meece (our field coordinator from Team Expansion), Sarah Riche (a good friend), And Ariana Mclain (a previous intern with our team).  We appreciate the encouragement (and the goodies) they brought us and are thankful for them taking the time and expense to come work with us.

Pray:

• The next few weeks our team will be focusing on finalizing plans, themes, lesson topics, activities and logistics for the summer youth activities.  Ask God for insight and direction so that the programs will come together smoothly and that we will be meeting the kids where they are (spiritually and relationally) and meeting their needs.
• Pray for the summer interns (A team of five are coming from Team Expansion Pathways this summer) as they prepare for how God will use them this summer.  Pray that their financial needs to be met.  The deadline for their support raising is getting close.
• Pray for the Muslim woman with whom Julie has become friends.  Pray that Julie will have opportunity and know how to present the Good News to this woman who is really searching and unsure of her own faith.
• Pray for the kids from the youth group who are working to start a teen worship service.  They want to do it themselves, the speaking, the music, the organizing.  It is exciting to see them stepping up in leadership and wanting to offer something like this to their peers.

This is a little of what is on our hearts at the moment.  Thanks for sharing our joys and burdens in prayer.

Joel, Julie and Emma Bates