When I tell people I am called to Ireland, they rarely understand what I mean. They see my love of the culture, my desire to share the gospel, and my admiration of the land but they really can't fathom how I feel when I think about my future there.
Most people, when they hear about the history of Derry, Northern Ireland, their reactions are something like "Oh my, that's so terrible!" or "I'm so glad I don't have to go through that." or "Something needs to be done." Yes, all these things are true, but Derry is more to me than a city on it's hands and knees. Derry is where my heart is.
How can anyone fathom my mad desire to be right in the middle of the pain, bombings, and hopelessness? I am not afraid, nor am I swayed by the possibility of being injured or even killed in a bombing or a shooting, even if they are rare these days. They still happen and are happening more frequently as of late. All I desire is to see as many of the Irish people, for whom God has given me a burning passion to save, fall to their knees for a whole new reason...acceptance of the forgiveness and salvation that Jesus is offering them.
I had the opportunity (God-given, in fact) to go to Derry this summer for two weeks and finally see and experience the city I am in love with. It was a humbling and heartbreaking experience. To see, firsthand, the murals depicting the painful history of the city, the drunks weaving down the streets, the blank looks of people who have seen too much for too long, and the silent, lonely streets of Bogside was eyeopening and, also, finalizing.
This was where I belonged.
Two weeks later, I left Derry behind with tears streaming down my cheeks, knowing it would be some time before I saw it again. But, in my heart, a new hope was blooming. I would return. And I would return with the fire of the Holy Spirit in my words, actions, and very life! I will return to spread the story that can deliver this city from her pain. I will return to start the life I know God has been planning for me since my very conception. I will return.
Until then, I continue to think of the people I met there and I pray for the work we started there to continue on through those we touched with the message of Christ. I pray for myself to be ready when my time comes to go back. I try to live my life everyday in preparation to continue my work in the town I love so well.
