Over six years ago Ray & Claudine Shiels sat in our lounge in London sharing their dream to plant a church in Dublin Ireland, and soon after they were sent out from our church on this adventure. They have faced every imaginable opposition on this journey, but this weekend as Ali & I visited the Dublin church we witnessed once again what an amazing thing it is when individuals answer Gods call and against all odds persevere to see God do what He promised. I had the privilege of preaching some “Resurrection Truth” in the Easter Sunday morning service, where a congregation of nearly 100 people gathered, passionately worshipping and faithfully serving a church through which many had obviously encountered a brand new life of faith in Christ.  The weekend before on St Patrick’s Day the church took part in “Arise Dublin”, a prayer gathering of 1,000 Christians which Ray had been instrumental in birthing with a group of other pastors in Dublin. Watch this space!

Despite Ray’s cancer history disqualifying him from getting life insurance and therefore a mortgage to buy a home, this weekend we sat in the lounge of their new home and listened once again to the story of God’s faithfulness and miraculous provision.

I can report that without a doubt Jesus is building His church in Dublin!

(Oh, and by the way, we had our own little family Easter adventure in Dublin, with the airline loosing our luggage, and it only getting to us ten minutes before we left back for London! We arrived back in London with unopened luggage and wearing the same clothes as when we left – but truly grateful for the privilege to have been a small part of a great work God is doing in that great city…)