Pastor Johnny is a very wise man. Over the past few weeks, he has been preaching through Psalm 23 in our Sunday night services. He made a statement last night that summed up exactly how I felt about the mission trip to Ireland we just took with our High School students.
Pastor Johnny was focusing on verse 4 last night which says "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil." He went on to talk about how that idea of "death" can also be viewed as "darkness." Pastor Johnny said something along the lines of "In verse 3 we saw that God leads us in the paths of righteousness which sometimes means you have to go through a valley of darkness (verse 4). They are intertwined. Sometimes being in a valley of darkness is right where He wants us to be in order to lead us through it to show us that He is with us." That's not word for word...but you get the idea. We all face dark times in our lives, but we have to understand that it is all part of God's plan for us and we are right where we belong. In His grip.
This idea of being in a time of darkness yet being exactly where God wants us perfectly summed up our Ireland trip. Let me explain...
This was BY FAR the most difficult and challenging mission trip I have ever been a part of. Ireland is a very cold and dark country when it comes to the gospel. It's honestly very depressing. I can't tell you how many people I talked to that were either apathetic to the gospel, or felt like they lived a good enough life that IF there was a God then He wouldn't send them to hell, or they just cursed us out and walked away. Heart-wrenching.
Here are some memories that immediately stick out to me:
1. Mark. I spent an hour talking to him with another student on our team. We stopped Mark on the street and asked him where we could get a good cup of coffee and then after talking to him for a few minutes we started to share the gospel with him. Mark asked questions. He listened. He soaked in everything we were saying. You could see the wheels turning in his head. It all made sense. At the end of our conversation he told us that he needed to think about some things before he could make a decision. I prayed with him right there on the street. I presented the gospel again in my prayer. I yearned for Mark to just surrender. After praying with Mark, we found out that we made him 30 minutes late for his class. We offered to buy him lunch and continue talking to him but he had to go. His parting words to us? "Don't worry about making me late. I really needed to hear this. Thank you." I'm still praying for him.
2. Michael. I met Michael through one of our other leaders. Ryan had met him a few days before and he went back and talked to him each day. Michael sells magazines on a street corner. Outside a Catholic church. His best friend? One of the priests from the church. When we asked him about it, he said that he is friends with the priest because the priest doesn't judge him but takes the time to get to know him. I spent about an hour talking to Michael on that street. He told me about his family. He gave me the history of Cork, Ireland. He explained his hesitancy toward religion and the church. His feelings are mirrored by thousands in Ireland. I'm still praying for him.
3. Mormons. I spent an hour (along with a few other people) talking to two Mormon missionaries. It was a tiring conversation. We tried to reason with them as lovingly as we could while still "confronting" them on their unbiblical views. They eventually got fed up and walked away from us. I'm still praying for them.
4. Pro-Homo. I can't, for the life of me, remember this guy's name. It's killing me. A student introduced him to me on the street. We were talking for a few minutes and then he asked me point blank what we believed regarding homosexuality. I explained to him what the Bible said about the issue. I stated very clearly that God sees it as sin, and that God is a forgiving God and the sacrifice of Jesus is enough to cover all sins. He told me that he wasn't gay but that his best friend was bi-sexual. He then continued to inform me that he believes his friend was born that way, that homosexuality isn't a choice, and that God has no right to judge him for that. I then went through the creation story with him showing him how God created human beings as male and female. I showed him how when man sinned and sin entered the world, it perverted things that God had created, even mankind's sexual desires (Romans 1). I then asked him a simple question. "You said your friend is bi-sexual. So that means he CHOOSES if he would rather sleep with a guy or a girl right? Isn't that a choice? His choice?" I honestly said this as lovingly as I could. He got pretty defensive and snapped back "You just want to change him!" I calmly and simply replied "Yes." I then told him "God is a God of life-change. I was a sinner. I was lost. I was headed for eternity in hell. I realized that I couldn't make it through this life on my own. I realized that I needed to make a change. When I surrendered my life to Christ, my entire life changed. It is about change. Every single person who is a Christian has experienced change. A change from death to life." Our conversation continued for a few more minutes and ended shortly after. I saw him later that day talking with some other students in our group. I'm still praying for him.
5. I got the chance to preach on Wednesday night while we were there in Cork. Our team presented a drama, led some worship, and we had a student share her testimony as well. God blessed that night. All glory goes to Him for this next statement. I was told later that night that 5 people gave their lives to Christ after the service. THAT was humbling. God is at work...even in a dark city like Cork.
6. Students. Our students blew me away. They were pretty discouraged after the first day of ministry because of the hard hearts of the people of Ireland. However, with each passing day, the students grew closer to God and to each other. They grew bolder and more confident in their faith. They weren't scared to stop random people on the street or sit next to someone on a park bench and share their faith. I got the privilege of walking around with various students and listen to them share the gospel with those they came in contact with. God used these students to do an amazing thing last week. I think this will be a spiritual marker in many of their lives.
Ireland needs the gospel. DESPERATELY. They told us that less than 1% of the country has a relationship with Jesus Christ. That's crazy. I started off by talking about Pastor Johnny's sermon. We were in a dark place. Ireland. However, I firmly believe that is exactly where God wanted us that week. That really stood out to me last night. God is pretty good at slapping me in the face with His truth.
He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake,
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for YOU ARE WITH ME.
Psalm 23:3-4
