\u201c…looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.\u201d Hebrews 12:2<\/em><\/p>\n We hope you had a great Easter despite the circumstances. We are still awaiting the end of our lock-down. As of today, there have been 1,159 Covid-19 related deaths in Ireland and 19,877 total cases. The lock-down has created many obstacles for us as a church. Services have gone completely digital.<\/p>\n On Fridays, I still have my Torch meetings. I\u2019m able to meet with my leaders, have a time of devotion, pray together, and even play an online game of pictionary with them. We\u2019re trying to keep each other\u2019s morale up during this time of isolation. I\u2019m disappointed that none of my youth have any access to the level of technology needed to join any virtual meetings, but at least I can continue to encourage and disciple our youth leaders.<\/p>\n Sunday services started out as Pastor Peter uploading sermons to YouTube. We\u2019ve taken the step towards a more interactive meeting, and this past week introduced Zoom church. We had about half of the church show up for a massive video conference call. We had a time of sharing, we prayed together, and listened to a sermon from Pastor Peter. It was my responsibility to facilitate the meeting, making sure everything went smoothly, and that there were no security issues.<\/p>\n We are also starting a midweek service on Wednesday nights. It\u2019s a smaller attendance, but it gives people a chance to connect and get spiritually fed outside of Sunday services. Frankly, this has been something we\u2019ve been talking about doing for a long time now, so what better time to get it started up than during a time of quarantine! So far we\u2019ve had two weeks of midweek service. I\u2019ll be leading next week\u2019s, and I\u2019m super excited about it!<\/p>\n I know many people are experiencing \u201cquarantine blues.\u201d Trust me, we definitely went through a period of time where the isolation was really weighing on us. We\u2019ve made some minor adjustments to our daily schedules, our priorities, and our overall mind-set. I think we\u2019re in a good place now, but still quite ready to go back to the real world. Thankfully, we\u2019ve had really nice weather recently.<\/p>\n I feel sorry for Anora, during all of this. I mean, she\u2019s super happy about having me around the house more, since I\u2019ve had to work from home, but she hasn\u2019t been able to see any of her friends. She has two friends in particular named Asher and Jackson. They\u2019re probably her closest friends, and not being able to see them has really made her sad. Last week, she cried her eyes out when she found out she wasn\u2019t able to play with them for a while.<\/p>\n My heart goes out to all the parents out there, and especially parents who have to home school! There are so many adjustments we all have to go through.<\/p>\n I had an interesting thought recently. At the end of this lock-down we should all come away with two or three different areas of self-improvement. This is at least MY goal. For me, I\u2019m focusing on improving my grilling\/baking skills, physical fitness, and developing a YouTube daily devotional blog. Larena is writing her own book and potty training Anora.<\/p>\n What are your 2-3 areas?<\/p>\n Larena and I are praying for each of you daily. We know this lock-down is taking a toll, and we are constantly praying for your protection. We pray that you and your families will be kept safe from the virus. We also pray for God\u2019s protection over your finances. Remember that God is in control. He\u2019s not surprised by the things that are happening. The current situation may seem like a giant uncontrollable disaster, or even like a storm that\u2019s raging around us, threatening our livelihoods.<\/p>\n Just remember to keep your eyes on Jesus. Don\u2019t focus on the storm! Focus on Him. We will survive this storm and continue towards the mission He\u2019s called us to do! God bless you!<\/p>\n Love from Chris, Larena, and Anora.<\/p>\n We would be honored if you would pray with us concerning: ONLINE GIVING<\/h3>\n APRIL 2020–Focusing on Jesus \u201c…looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.\u201d Hebrews 12:2 Greetings from Galway: Zoom Sunday services and Torch – a new way … <\/p>\nGreetings from Galway: <\/strong><\/h3>\n
Zoom Sunday services and Torch – a new way to do ministry!<\/h3>\n
Quarantine Blues<\/h3>\n
Prayer Requests<\/h3>\n
\nPlease pray for new ways to connect and interact with people and share the Gospel message during this \ufffdme.
\nPlease pray for Ireland, that this will cause more hearts to be open to the Gospel.
\nPlease pray for all those who have su\ufb00ered with this virus, either mentally, physically or \ufb01nancially.
\nPlease pray that soon we will begin to live the new normal and be able to connect again with others as we are not meant to be alone. We are meant to connect and meet and spread the Good News that Jesus Christ died and was raised to life to save us from our sins.<\/p>\nSupport Information<\/strong><\/h3>\n
If you would like to team up & contribute to this important mission, please make checks out to:
\nHope Ireland Missions 229 W. Exchange St. Crete, IL 60417
\n(Chris & Larena Johnston on the memo line)<\/p>\nSimply go to: www.hopeirelandmissions.com & click on \u201cpartner.\u201d<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"