First Week of Outreach

Today marks the end of our first week of outreach. We have been working in Dublin at a YWAM property that will be used to house students for the next DTS. This property has been given to YWAM Dublin, Rent Free for 7 months. The house is over 150 years old and has much more work to be done, yet our team of 11 has put the pedal to the metal and accomplished much in our first week. We have been painting, wall papering, plastering, cleaning, pulling weeds, throwing out garbage. We’ve been able to see the house (or shell of a house) turn into more of a home over the last few days. The accommodations this week have been slim. We are staying in the house, paint fumes and all. We’ve been sleeping on mattresses (if you can call them that) on the floor and taking bucket showers (oh, how much I’m reminded of my time in Mozambique)! I have been quite impressed with the attitude of our team. They have been ready to work, without complaint, each morning getting many of the tasks out of the way, even before lunch time. This has been hard work this week, and I’m very proud of these 8 students and their commitment to the goals!

As far as ministry goes, we have had a chance to do some evangelism and praying in the city. Dublin is an incredibly rich city, in antiquity and culture. The people here are fantastic; quite warm and friendly. They are willing to talk to you on the Luas (Pronounced “Lewis”, and is the local light rail system) or in the pubs and cafes and shops around the city. On Saturday, we walked downtown and right through a Gay Pride Parade. Our team was overwhelmed with a huge prayer burden for the homosexual population of Dublin. This is something we will take away from this week. As you pray in the next days, please keep in mind the homosexual community here in Dublin, and ask God to have mercy on these people. Ask for the door to be closed, that was opened during this parade and for the evil to be purged from the streets.

We have also had a chance to meet and pray with Dublin Christian Mission. We will be partnering with them for some of their summer outreach activities. Part of our team will plan and run a “Summer Project” that keeps kids (ages 3-12) off the streets and occupied with positive influence, rather than getting into trouble. This is a great opportunity for a few members of our team to use their giftings and abilities. Later on in July, our entire team will work with Dublin Christian Mission (DCM), helping out with summer camps. As we met to pray with the staff at DCM I felt God was asking me to ask if they needed a worship leader for one of their camp weeks at the end of July. As I asked, Liesel (our main contact with DCM) was quite surprised and excited about the opportunity for me to lead worship for the week. Please be in prayer for this week (Starting July 25). It should be a great week for the teen age kids in the camp and an incredible week for our team to partner with DCM, leading worship, and assisting with cooking and other duties at the camp.

Tomorrow we return to Northern Ireland for nearly 2 weeks. During this time we will be working with YWAM Belfast to help with a summer music festival (Summer Madness) and do ministry in Belfast City. Following our week with Summer Madness, we will assist YWAM Belfast (Now YWAM Ireland) with preparation for an Irish Folk Music Festival. Please be in prayer for this time, as this will be the time that our team of 11 splits for 2 weeks. We feel God is opening doors for ministry in Dublin and Northern Ireland at the same time. Half of our team will return to Dublin to run the Summer Project with DCM and the remainder (Kaylyn and I included) will stay in Northern Ireland and assist with the folk Music Festival. Please pray for the unity of our team to remain intact and for the Lord to open up doors for both of the teams!

I apologize for the long entry. With so much going on, it takes a bit to explain it all. We will make an effort to post every few days, to keep the entries shorter. We thank you so much for your prayer support and financial support. We are confident that your prayers and assistance are going to help the Lord change lives here in Ireland and Northern Ireland. Please feel free to write to us, or ask more questions! We’d love to hear from you!

bradyandkaylyn@gmail.com

Welcome June!

Happy Memorial day to all of you, Stateside. From the sounds of things, the weather’s been lousy and if it keeps up, you may be able to swim to work soon. We hope you all are doing ok and we do pray for you often. Can you believe it is already June? Time is flying by!

These last 10 days or so have been quite busy. Our team has done ministry in a prison, a shelter for young kids who’s parents aren’t fit to care for them, parks, and a church. Our team is really starting to fall into place as far as the different rolls we have for ministry. As a leader, its great to see this happenings, as ultimately it makes less work for me :) Also as a leader, its truly a joy to see the students take charge and really own and be responsible for the ministries we are participating in.

This past weekend we were with a church in San Salvo, a town about an hour south of Pescara. We had a time of worship in a park, then passed out invitations to a “Gospel Concert” we would be putting on in the evening. We spent a few hours in the park, painting faces of children, talking with people and supporting the coffee bar that was there. Sunday was a very warm day and there were many people in the park. We ate lunch with the church and had a bit of “free” time in the afternoon. I was to lead worship for the “Gospel Concert” that evening and spent much of the afternoon preparing for that. We had, as a team, a great time of prayer prior to the service. The music worked well, as Rebeca (the girl in the picture above) assisted me in leading the songs in Italian. Our team did the “Everything” Drama that they’ve been working on, (Look for it soon on our videos page). Kaylyn shared here testimony and spoke wonderfully. Several people were moved to tears as she declared, through a translator, that she would choose to follow Jesus and give her “yes” to Jesus each day. Our time in San Salvo served to encourage the church and excite them about the opportunities there are in ministry within their own town, and missions, within Italy and across Italy’s Borders.

This week we have been learning on relationships from Jo Rocha. Jo is Brazilian, but lives in Belgium with his wife and 3 children. Jo and Kristien watched a son lose his battle with leukemia about 5 years ago. In light of our family’s recent battle, we have felt a strong kinship with Jo. He’s a sweet man who really is living out his teaching.

In the coming weeks, we are quite busy. This weekend we leave for Bari, for 8 days. We will be staying with church there to offer our teacher for the week to their church and community. This will be an important time in outreach preparation for us as well. When we return from Bari, we will have just over a week in Pescara before we leave for Belfast. Please be in prayer for the last two weeks of the lecture phase of this school. God has done some incredibly amazing things, but we are confident he’s not done yet. You can look forward to a new gallery soon, as we’ll have pictures from the last few weeks and the weeks to come!