Drama
Seth has joined the Barnabas Players for their last week here, because one of them had to go home early (he was best man in a wedding). So, Seth learned the lines, etc, and so far he's been in about a dozen shows. The Players have been here almost three weeks and they have done over 50!
Church Child Abuse Report
A new government report (almost ten years in the making) says that thousands of children who attended Catholic institutional schools have been abused in all kinds of ways. This article might make you sick, but the issue is sure to make an impact on a lot of people in Ireland, so click here if you'd like to read up on it.
Seth, Mervyn and the Barnabas Players had a great trip to Northern Ireland (part of the United Kingdom, as opposed to the Republic of Ireland where we live). Seth was introduced at the missions conference for the organization Mervyn and Karen work with, and the Barnabas Players performed as well. Actually, they performed more than they thought they would - one time we stopped for lunch and they got a chance to do a skit about Jonah in the resturaunt! Seth got a little bit recorded so you could get a taste of it:
We were tourists for a little while and got to see some of Belfast and the Giant's Causeway - check the gallery for pictures!
Belfast
Today Seth is heading to Belfast in Northern Ireland for a couple of days with Mervyn and the Barnabas Players. They'll be going to a missions conference and doing some performances while in the North, but Seth is mostly along for the ride - to check out Belfast and see what churches are like up there. Check back in a few days and I'm sure there will be some good pictures!
Barnabas Players
On Wednesday night a drama group called the Barnabas Players flew in from Prairie Bible College in Canada. Two of the five team members are staying with us. They will be here until June 3rd, and will spend most of their days in area schools using drama to help the students focus on God. They can actually be very open in their use of the Bible because the schools in Ireland are not secular - they are almost all run by either the Catholic Church or the Church of Ireland (a branch of the Church of England/Anglican church). They are also offering all of the students a free copy of the gospel of John.
In other news, our printer broke down so we upgraded to an amazing machine that can print A3 size posters with no edges, which is a great feature for publicity - especially since most local events are primarily advertised through posters. Now if we can just find a spot big enough to put this thing...
Making Friends
We are very thankful that God is already giving us good friends here in Ireland. Yesterday one of our neighbors invited Jessica and Daniel over for some tea along with another friend of hers and her kids. We also had a family from church over for "tea" - a name often used for the evening meal, but not to be confused with the likes of Jessica's literal cup of tea earlier at the neighbor's. Anyway, Daniel had a great time running circles around the house with their kids while we had a great talk with the parents. Today we're having tea (dinner) with our teammates, who we are quickly becoming good friends with. It sure is nice to have friends.
5 Years!
That's how long Seth and Jessica have been married now! Thanks to some wonderful teammates who have made good friends with Daniel, we were able to have a date today! Then some folks from church gave us free tickets to the movies! Cool!
So how was the day? Great. And the five years of happy marriage? Priceless.
School's Out
Well, almost. This is Jessica's last week of grad-school via Liberty University's distance learning program. She'll have a Masters in Counseling. We're certainly not opposed to learning, but it will be nice not to have to worry about school anymore!
People and Blasphemy
We may not have house guests anymore, but we're still around people most of the time, it seems. Everyday this week we've been with other people - sometimes at our place, sometimes at theirs or in town. As Seth types this, Jessica is downstairs with a bunch of teen girls watching a movie. He's never seen it, but it seems to have a pretty good soundtrack.
On a totally different note, here's an interesting article from the Irish Times. It's written by the Minister of Justice and talks about the difficulties in honoring the Irish constitutional requirement that blasphemy be punished. Click Here to read it.
Also, thank you for praying for Jessica's folks (see April 21 post). The insurance company is covering repairs and expenses for a furnished apartment while they wait. Friends from church have been a huge help and God is clearly working in the whole thing. Your prayers are definitely appreciated!
