Northern Ireland Mission Update

The Men’s and Women’s Ministry at our church put on a Valentine’s day dinner and movie night and as a fund raiser the youth served the meal for tips. There was also a silent auction where all of the items were donated and went to the highest bidder. This was a great fundraiser and the youth that participated did a great job. The fundraiser put a dent into the total that is needed and we are praying diligently that the Lord will provide the remainder because we are only a little over half way there.

From a preparation standpoint I am continuing to meditate on the things that the Lord is teaching me. This past Sunday I had the pleasure of teaching the youth about Love and Compassion. We talked about loving our neighbors and that led right into the discussion of compassion. We used the following definition:

Compassion - a feeling of deep sympathy and awareness for another’s suffering and a  desire to do something about it.

After talking for a while about the importance of having compassion as a Christian, we all agreed that it was indeed important and that it is something that we should all have.  I asked my audience if they felt a bit of pressure after learning that compassion requires action. As for me the Lord spoke clearly to me on the need to attach some real action to my compassion. I have to admit that I often use the word compassion when in reality I should be using the word sympathy. I am amazed at how we can be teaching and learning all at the same time.

I encouraged the youth to be practicing compassion at home where it is safe. Home is a place where they can be aware of the needs of their family members and immediately take action by praying or some other appropriate response. They should be practicing at home until action is comfortable for them. Following this we discussed how our youth meetings should be another safe place where they can step out and put some action into their compassion equation. The goal is that they would be so comfortable showing compassion that taking it to the streets would be a natural  next step for them.

The people of Northern Ireland are in need of a little compassion and I want our team ready and able to take action by praying and serving. As for me, I’m preparing my heart for the work ahead.

If you would like to commit to praying for our team, please let me know by sending me a message and I will send you updates on our prayer requests as we progress toward our departure. If you desire to help us financially we would appreciate that as well. You can do that by sending a check to:

Youth Ministries
Vineyard Community Church
601 South Cooper Road
Gilbert, AZ 85233

Please write my name in the memo section of the check. There is also a method available for using a credit card (In case you want to earn credit card points), contact me and I can pass along the details.