Friday May 27

The sun is shining, the town square is packed with people and the paint and brushes are ready. It’s a perfect day for open air preaching in Waterford. This was the day we woke up to on the 28th. It seemed that God had prepared a perfect day to go out and share the good news of His son with the Irish people, and that’s what we did. As a team we made our way down into the town square where people were spending their afternoons shopping and sitting in the sun. We began to set up our sketch board while we did our best to avoid the strange looks that people were giving us as they walked by. While Tim began preparing his sketch board message, we went into the streets and began handing out material and speaking to anyone who would lend us an ear. Then the time came to watch messages from both Tim and Ernie as they shared the gospel using paint and paper to speak of the eternal hope we have in Christ. Before long, many young people had gathered to both listen and mock us. This didn’t bother us too much however because it created some very good discussions. “How can we know God is real when we can’t see him?!” One teenager demanded loudly. “Do you believe the wind is real?” someone on the team responded, “You can’t see the wind, only the effects of it!” The young teenager had to stop and think about this answer. The team member continued: “We feel the effects of God through our lives, even though we don’t see Him!” This began an extremely positive discussion at the end of which, 5 bibles were given away! Connections were also made through facebook and email. Overall it was a very uplifting and positive experience and God was quite clearly with us.

Team bonding has been extremely important. We know that if we are not unified, we can’t do the work of the Lord properly. This is why it has been wonderful to have a team that not only works well together but enjoys each other’s company as well. One example of this was yesterday when we were listening to Irish music. In very North American fashion, we began doing our best Irish jigs. Most of us looked like marionettes flopping limply on a string but some weren’t that bad. The best of us was Ernie, who looked like a much older version of Michael Flatley. It was a very fun night.

-Jordan