We Finally Have The Keys!!!
Greetings loved ones! The time has finally come for us to
celebrate a major victory! After months of back and forth with lawyers,
fine tuning of contracts, and negotiations, we’ve finally secured the space
in Galway City center that we’ve been dreaming of for many years! Last
month we shared the story about how God confirmed this was going to be
our space, using the phrase “to the right of the cross,” and then seeing the
random cross-like structure just outside the building.
The space is everything we’ve been dreaming of. We
envisioned something central, which this space certainly is. We envisioned
something that is on the major footpath, which this space certainly is as
well. Larena had a vision back in 2021, when we were driving to Dublin.
She was listening to The Greatest Showman soundtrack, and saw us
standing in the streets of Galway, in a specific part of the city where the
pedestrian walk opens up really wide. She saw me dressed up like Hugh
Jackman in the movie, singing and performing for the crowd. As she
looked around the crowd, everyone was black and white. But sparks of
light began coming from us as we performed for them, creating color.
Larena was going around handing people little pieces of paper that began
turning the crowd into color. It was an amazing vision that spoke to us
about the impact we will have on bringing people to the Lord. What’s
interesting, as we look back, is that the space she saw us in just so happens
to be directly in front of the place we now have! Praise God!
Something we also envisioned was that the space would be
within the original city walls. You see, years ago God gave me a vision of
the city walls surrounding Galway. Most of it is already gone, but in this
vision it was a representation of the historic and spiritual walls that
surrounded the city. As I stood there watching, He sent an enormous tidal
wave, which knocked the walls down. Then he spoke to my heart, this is
the time to take ground for Him. It was a powerful vision, which we kept
in our hearts for years. Now, as we step into this space, we realize the
fulfilment of that vision. We are taking ground for the Lord, in a place that
has historically been shut off to a powerful move of the Holy Spirit.
Recently I felt prompted to look up the exact location of this
space, in respect to the historic city walls. It turns out the space is right
inside the original front gates! There’s something very symbolic and
powerful about how God has positioned us here. I love how He’s put
together all of these amazing subtle details that pack so much meaning.
God is so good! Now begins an exciting journey of faith and trust, as we
seek to fundraise and furnish the space, transforming it into a beautiful
setting for large group meetings, Bible studies, and Alpha courses. We are
reaching out to people, asking for their help in our networking efforts. Our
goal is to reach several churches, who might be willing to partner with us
financially each year, so we can keep the momentum going. So far, we’ve
had a couple great leads, and we’re currently putting together a video and
a webpage to illlustrate our needs for this project more clearly. Do you
have any connections that you think might want to partner with us in our
Galway City efforts? If so, let us know. We would love to share our call
and vision.
We have another amazing praise report. Liam’s rash has finally
cleared up! This poor kid has been suffering for months now, breaking
out in an itchy rash that kept waxing and waning over and over. He was
scratching non stop, often breaking skin and causing bleeding. It was so
stressful. Everything we tried failed. Everything the doctors suggested
failed. Finally, Larena was having a conversation with her sister, who
suggested that maybe it was a certain kind of hives, triggered by allergy
and the immune system’s overload. It was exactly the piece of the puzzle
we needed to finally tackle the situation. We got some treatment
specifically for these hives, and after a few days he was completely clear!
It was a huge relief!
This month we had a visit with a girl named Abbie, who we’ve
known for many years. Abbie was one of our interns several years ago.
She helped us with our youth and young adults ministries. She helped me
build pallet benches for a 4th of July party. Little did we know, the trip
she took over here to help us really impacted her in a huge way. It was
here in Galway that she realized that she wanted to go into ministry. She
has worked with Chi Alpha at the University of Wisconsin, and now
pastors a church in Madison, WI. We enjoyed catching up with her,
hearing her journey, and spending some time together. The process she
went through to start the church in Madison was very similar to what God
is calling us to do in Galway, so it was very encouraging to hear how she
did it there.
We now begin a long process of preparing the space for
ministry. The first step was to knock out a wall to make room for a larger
kids ministry area. I was able to pick up a sledge hammer and demolish
it all in one day. Now, I need to organize the cleanup of all the drywall
and framing. Next step, we will be plastering up holes in the walls and
painting. In the meantime, we’ve found a used door that we were able to
save quite a bit of money on, that will go in as my office door. Please keep
us in your prayers as we tackle all of these projects little by little. We wish
we could fast forward and have everything ready right now, but we know
there’s an important process to this. We’ve reached out to a few people
we are currently ministering to, asking them if they’d be willing to give a
hand. Every one of them is excited about the space and is enthusiastic
about helping. Praise God for what He’s doing. We are so thankful for
His faithfulness, His promises, and we’re thankful for you! If not for your
support, this wouldn’t be possible!! We love you! ~The Johnstons
Prayer Requests
We would be honored
if you would pray with
us concerning:
Please pray for the process
of renovating, painting,
cleaning, furnishing the
space in town for ministry.
Please pray for the
fundraising process. We
are praying for churches
and individuals to feel led
by the Lord to help us.
Please pray for the hearts
in Galway. For the people
we are to minister to now
and in the near future.
Please pray we will be able
to share Jesus with the
people on the streets, the
homeless, college
students, buskers and
everyone in between. May
we see the Lord transform
their lives and give them
living hope!
Support
Information
If you would like to team
up & contribute to this
important mission, please
make checks out to:
Hope Ireland Missions
229 W. Exchange St.
Crete, IL 60417
(Chris & Larena Johnston
on the memo line)
Simply go to:
www.hopeirelandmissions.com
& click on “partner.”
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