Sligo - The Land of Heart's Desire

Sligo is a small county with incredible amounts of beauty! We've just been here a month and a half, but are surprised at how much treasure there is here. We are just getting settled into our flat now, feeling more at home. We had black water for the first month but the plumber has been round to fix it and get things sorted...everything on Irish time...

We live in a noisy area downtown within walking distance of everything which is fab. We're blessed with an open fire in the flat which makes it feel quite cozy.

We've been enjoying getting to know our fellow YWAMers here - a couple, one Irish, one American. We have shared many meals since we arrived and it's a joy to be working with them. We've also been thankful for a warm welcome from a few locals we've started to get to know.

Keeping true to our traveler hearts, we've been away a lot of weekends to other parts of Ireland since we arrived. Just back from an amazing weekend of connecting with friends and ministry in Co. Mayo, and on our way to Cork in a couple days.

Then we will be able to spend a good month in Sligo before the next faith journey - France!

Photos of Summer in Ireland: Mobile Ministry Trips, Lots of Music & Beauty!

Getting ready for outreach!

We've begun a small ministry which is mobile and the heart of it is to connect with people around Ireland, learn what needs there are and go serve whether we do it ourselves or connect people who we think will be a good fit - NETWORKING! So we have done four circuits of Ireland in the last few years and then lots of little trips to get to know people, play music, worship, pray and get more of God's good heart for this place.

The cafe we ran for Fiddler's Green - good fun!

                             Music workshop our team ran at Summer Madness Youth Festival
                                           Special Guest: Aaron Weiss of mewithoutYou

                                                                      Exploring the West...

We're so blessed to be building relationship with the Benedictine nuns at Kylemore Abbey, and had a great opportunity to do some garden work for them in exchange for an incredible place to stay for the weekend. Here's a taste of Connemara:

           
                                              Beautiful Connemara, County Galway

Salmon Festival music outreach trip - Ballina, County Mayo in the west of Ireland, where Joey and our friend Nathanael's ancestors were from.

Bert and Val - great hosts to the team

Prayer in Rosserk Friary

                                   Downpatrick Head - Ballycastle, with Sean and Nathanael...

                       
                                              Sometimes you can't resist the chase.

Our friend Nathanael has joined us for a few of the mobile team trips around Ireland. We've had great times together and have been a doing a lot of worship together- a great blessing!!

                                                 Ceide Fields - Ballycastle, Co. Mayo

Hedge torn out, 36 tons of soil in, let the planting begin!

Sowing and reaping...

                                         Recording one of Joey's songs in our 'summer flat'

Cooking community meal for 30-40 people, which we have every Friday, inviting people from the area into our lives. This was almost all from the garden - A stir fry, a garden-salad and then chocolate beet-root cake!

Christy singing "Pressing On" with Liam O'Maonlai of Hothouse Flowers at The Music of Healing in An Cuan. There's a real story here! Click here for the full video!

  

A peaceful stroll in the land of many castles

"The Beard!"

The "Mourne Wall" - County Down where we live...

May God Bless You With Discomfort

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships,

So that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people

So that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war,

So that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain in to joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world,

So that you can do what others claim cannot be done.

-A Franciscan monk

A bit of color

Happy Christmas! We are very blessed that we will be able to spend this Christmas with our dear friends - Richard and Rachel and their four children in London. We have had a lovely weekend hosting 2 YWAMers who we met in November on our journey around Ireland. One of them is from Galway and the other from Papua New Guinea - we are so blessed to have met them and that they came to Rostrevor to visit!

The rest of our trip around Ireland was really blessed and thought we'd share a few photos of the beauty of this place - with all its color!...

Below is the family who hosted us when we first came to Cork, Ireland in 2007 - It was so wonderful to reconnect with them again!

Love to all and be blessed with the reality of His Presence!

Love,

Joey & Christy