So as I've been back in the states and now finished 2 days of work, I've had time to reflect on the Adventure that just took place. It was a very interesting, very fun, very productive trip. Though the productivity wasn't exactly what I expected I feel that it was good. Let me explain!
At one point while in Dublin the girls expressed a little bit of disappointment in the trip to that point. I understood their point and agreed to an extent. Their disappointment was because we weren't getting to do as much "Ministry" as we thought we would be able to. I was encouraged by their disappointment as it shows their heart was truly about serving God and not just a vacation!
The original intention of the trip to Ireland was to take 3 musicians and 3 drama people and to get involved in ministries and churches there as well as do street ministry. This had to change some as 3 of the 6 of us couldn't go at the last minute. So since I'm so new at the guitar our musical opportunities were limited. Mainly just one day did I play the guitar around the city. Since we couldn't do much street ministry due to limited resources and due to weather it made it nearly impossible to pull off any kind of dramas with the girls. Thus their disappointment in one sense. We also planned to get involved in a church and in at least one ministry Dublin Christian Mission. In this we saw opportunities for both Music and Drama. Well once we were there we realized that DCM had actually taken kids from Dublin a good ways off for a camp, so they weren't even in Dublin in order for us to help. This was a bit of a let down but we were able to contact them and establish at least the interest and find out how we might be able to help them next summer, as God leads. The same thing with the church. We had a 2 hour long meeting with Paddy, from Core Church. He let us know what the church was doing in the community and what his ideas were. At the end of the conversation I was able to share my heart and burden and in turn we discussed leading a Youth Camp with them next summer. Now what God does with this, I don't know but these two conversations meant more than I had even realized. Let me explain.
After having this discussion with the girls, we sat down with Jim and Laura (the missionaries living there) and they enlightened us even more on Ireland in general and this conversation tied everything together. They let us know that ministry in Dublin is very different then some places. There has to be relationships built before ministry can be done. If we just showed up and stood in the streets and forced Jesus in their faces then we would've probably done more harm than good and it would've even hurt the Pettit's ministry there as they are trying to build relationships and will continue after we are gone. They assured us that what they had envisioned for us is what we did and that we even exceeded it by building the relationships with CORE and DCM that we did.
So this trip, originally thought to be a hardcore evangelistic mission, turned out to be a Scout Trip with us getting to know the culture and build relationships for future trips. Not that God will allow us to come back but because we were willing to sit back and let God guide our steps we were asked to come back and do things that we were not going to be allowed to do otherwise. So I'm very excited to see what God does through this "mission" trip!
I know now how to pray for Ireland, the people there, the missionaries, the missions, the church (CORE and others). I met lots of people and got email addresses of people who aren't Christians that God may use me to lead to Him via email and conversations. I even met a wonderful couple from Paris France who invited us to come stay with them which is yet another beautiful opportunity to share Christ and maybe a door for future ministry in Paris, that was never there before.
So to re-cap and to be honest: The Mission and Ministry that we intended on doing there did not happen but what God wanted to happen and what needed to happen did. We all were taken out of our comfort zone, we all learned to live among other cultures, we all built relationships which may blossom into something more, we all learned that God's ways are not our ways and that He takes care of His own.
So was this a Mission trip? Yes it was! Was it what I had envisioned? No, but it is only the beginning!
We thank you for your prayers and how you stuck with us through the trip. Now go to my Facebook page and begin seeing the pictures of these beautiful places that God allowed us to see! Pray for Ireland! Pray for Jim and Laura Pettit, as they serve God in Dublin! Pray for CORE Church as they serve God in Dublin! Pray God does amazing things in Rubicon now that we are back and are fired up about serving God in Chattanooga! Pray about maybe going next year to Dublin yourself, with or without me!
In Christ,
Kyle Hawkins
Team Rubicon
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