On the Move in Ireland“To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven”
Ecclesiastes 3:1
As a woman, wife, and handmaiden of the Lord it is my heart to follow the leading of God in the life of my husband. This may mean leaving everything familiar and comfortable to follow a call God has placed in his heart! This means a dying to self, a releasing of my will, and being obedient to the Lord. I am called to come alongside and trust the Lord as He brings about change. An absolute privilege!
Recently, I looked up the definitions of three words I feel are relevant in our family life right now. These words are change, transition, and season.
Dictionary definitions for each of these words are:
change: to give a different position, course, or direction to;
transition: to make a change from one state, place, or condition to another; and
season: to make fit by experience, to make suitable for use, a period of time associated with something special.
As women, words like change/transition can be a bit taunting and even a bit frightening. But God can bring about a beautiful new season in the midst of a change/transition that He is readying us for.
We are thankful for the amazing privilege to serve our great God, Jesus Christ. To be His ambassadors not just among the Irish, but also of CCEA. It is a privilege!
Our time serving the Lord in Dublin has been fantastic. We have poured into the Community relentlessly. They have watched, listened, and participated…children, moms, dads, Muslims, youth, staff, cancer sufferers, local politicians, skeptics. Our time in Dublin has been preparatory, We were being made fit and suitable for use in Gods next steps for our family.
June 30, 2018, with a moving truck and six vehicles from CCD loaded with our things, we made our move to the West. We are now in Sligo and have 60% of the house unpacked. Our home in Collooney is quite a bit smaller, so we are trying to be creative with storage. Sligo is a much slower culture than Dublin. People want you to take time. They want you to listen, to hear, and to value each conversation. We are excited to see all the Lord will do here.
We are, with all of God’s grace and aid, seeking to establish a new church plant in Sligo--a calling God placed in Shawn’s heart. The seeds of this move began back in 2005. It is my privilege to come alongside Shawn as his wife in this new venture of faith. As we set our face forward we will seek the Lord for every ounce of strength, every step, every move--all for His glory--that we may be Salt to Souls.
Here is a fact founded upon research by Irish Christians: Ireland is the least evangelized English speaking country in the world. This statement might be met with disbelief--after all, Ireland is called ‘The Land of Saints and Scholars,’ isn’t it? Yes it is. However, research reveals that evangelical (Biblical) Christians make up less than one percent of the population. What’s more, there are more than fifty towns with no evangelical church! Our family, in obedience to the Lord, has stepped out in faith to share the love of God here in Sligo.
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye." Psalm 32:8
It would nearly be an understatement to say that we are critically reliant upon this direct influence from the Lord. As we venture from our new home to various places, expanding our points of reference, we pray for the Lord to lead, to show us the way in which we ought to go. We ask that you would pray diligently for the many untold and unknown needs. We are starting with all of God’s grace, His calling. We are starting with these abundant relational realities, but little else.
by Deanna Tebbe, CCEA Missionary to Ireland