I Suppose That's It

I flew from Madrid to Dublin this morning, and took a few hours this afternoon to wander around Dublin.  I spent some time walking around Trinity College, picked up a few trinkets for the kids, and then came back to my hotel room at the airport to prepare to come home tomorrow.

There are a couple of nameless taxi drivers in Dublin you could pray for.  The first brought me downtown. He was so incensed about the country's government corruption that he was on a tirade for nearly the entire 20-minute drive into downtown.  I silently thanked God for being in control of everything, even corrupt governments.  When I paid my fare, along with a tip, I gave the taxi driver a small tract.

After my walk in Dublin, I miraculously found another taxi right when I wanted to head back to the hotel.  It was "bucketing," as they say here, so I was grateful to hop into a warm, dry car.  This taxi driver talked about drinking Guinness nearly the whole trip back to the hotel.  He was very nice, and we talked about our families (he has 3 kids, 2 girls and 1 boy), and he asked me several times if I was going back to the hotel to have one more Guinness before heading home.  I gave this taxi driver a tract with his fare and tip as well, and he looked at it with interest and said, "What's this?  Your card?"  I just smiled and said, "No, just a little something for you," and I got out of the cab.  I could hear as I walked up to the hotel that he hadn't pulled away yet, and I prayed that it was because he was reading the card I gave him, which talked about the plan of salvation.  

So please pray for these two men, and please pray for the country of Ireland.  I started thinking about some of the facts and figures I've learned since being here, and it suddenly hit me what they really mean.  In the U.S., we can hardly drive 5 miles without passing a church.  Once I started thinking about the idea that there are large towns here, towns bigger than Greenwood, with absolutely no Christian church and absolutely no Christians whatsoever living in them, I felt so sad for the people who live here.  How can they get to know Jesus if nobody is here to introduce them to Him?  

We don't often think of places like Ireland or Spain as being badly in need of missionaries.  We think of places like Haiti and Africa, because of the humanitarian issues that come along with those places.  I will never diminish the importance of caring for the physical needs of the destitute.  But I will also never diminish the importance of caring for the spiritual needs of those living in the abject poverty of a life without Christ.

"How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?  And how shall they preach unless they are sent?"                              

--Romans 10:14-15

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