Irishmen and Midwesterners

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Today we went to visit Paudge and Emer Mulvihill at their home.  We had tea and swapped our testimonies.  Paudge came from a very religious Catholic background, where his father was headed for the priesthood at one point.  Paudge became disillusioned with religion for a time, and then wound up with a group of friends who all became Christian and wanted Paudge to come with them to their bible study/fellowship meetings.  Paudge was 20, and for some reason had taken to smoking a pipe.  He said he’d sit in their meetings and puff on his pipe and argue, argue, argue with them the entire time.  But somehow he kept coming to these meetings.  Finally, one day he couldn’t run from Jesus anymore.  He took a walk, got right with God, and went back to the group to announce he’d come to Christ.  I wish I had been there to see the looks on their faces!  

Paudge is one of OMS’ church planting partners.  He told me about his vision of seeing 10 churches planted in Ireland in the next 9 years.  I was shocked to learn about how many towns there are in Ireland with no evangelical Christian presence whatsoever. In fact, there are a total of 72 towns with a population of 5,000 or more that have no evangelical Christian witness of any sort. Paudge is hoping to recruit several interns who would be able to come work with him for periods of 1-2 years to help out and learn.I left the Mulvihills’ house feeling more convinced than ever that Ireland is in desperate need of missionaries.

We then traveled to Roscommon to meet with Michael and Amy Walsh.  Amy is from Iowa originally, and Michael is from the Chicago area.  In fact, Michael graduated from Moody Bible Institute just a few years before Pastor Steve.  We had a great time sitting around their kitchen table talking about their ministry (Michael even made me a delicious cup of coffee from Starbucks beans, which immediately won me over!).  They’ve been in Ireland for 20 years, and started a church with about 5 people, meeting in in their home, which has now grown to meeting in a church building with an attendance of 65 people.  Amy home schools their kids, after her kids started bringing home schoolwork that included a book of curses and spells and learning about crystal balls.  The Murphys would also welcome another missionary couple who could come alongside and work with them on outreach.

We’re now in the Alleyaix Manor Hotel for the night.  Tomorrow we’re going to be meeting with another missionary couple and then we’ll be making our way to the Dublin airport for my flight to Madrid.  While I’m looking forward to my visit to Spain, I’m very sad to leave Ireland so soon.  I haven’t been here long, but I’ve developed a very strong connection in a short time.  

Driving on the left is a little unsettling!

(From L) Amy Walsh, Michael Walsh, Stephen Williamson, Esther Williamson

Paudge and Emer Mulvihill