Our Story
2018
In 2018 God gave me this recurring scripture in my life:
“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
While this is an amazing verse, it’s definitely a bit vague. I knew he was going to do something new but I had no idea what it was. This was a time in our lives where the leadership around us was changing, some good and some not so good. Then, in the fall of 2018, I had 3 dreams very close together, each one involving me having a baby. In the first of the dreams, I was pregnant. In the next dream, I had just had a baby. In the last dream, we adopted a baby from a family in our church. I am no longer physically able to have a baby, so I knew there was some deeper meaning. Through these dreams, I felt God was speaking to us that He was in the process of birthing something new in our lives. But, what was it? Joel and I began pressing on doors to see what might open.
2019
In February of 2019, we made a connection with Pastor Sam from Lighthouse church in Ireland. We sat at Big Bad Breakfast where he shared his heart and experiences with where the country of Ireland is as a christian nation. With less than 1% of people being christian, they are now considered a “post-christian nation”. Honestly, we were stunned. God touched our hearts in such a way that we planned a trip right then to visit the church in August of that same year. Well, we all know how that year went and the next! We stayed in touch with Pastor Sam and developed that relationship.
2022
In May of 2022 we finally made it to Ireland. It was a wonderful time getting to know the people of Lighthouse Church, their hearts, and their needs. We came home knowing that God wanted to use us to help resource Lighthouse and anyone that is spreading the gospel in Ireland through ARC.
Then in the fall of 2022 we were asked to return to Ireland to help Lighthouse plant its third campus the following April. While we prepared to return some very difficult times came our way. We had 2 deaths within one month. Then God spoke to me in a dream. I saw Jesus in a hospital bed and then when He got up out of the bed he was wielding a weapon to fight and he spoke and told me I needed to get out of the way. The next day I actually ended up in the hospital. I was having some very strange but severe symptoms. Nothing seemed to really make sense. I got extremely depressed and for no apparent reason. I even had my physician advise me to cancel our trip to Ireland.
2023
On February 17th, God revealed to us the full picture of what we were fighting. We wish we could say that things got better immediately, but they didn’t. However, knowing what was coming against us, as well as knowing that God was fighting that battle gave us some peace and direction.
On March 24th we left for Ireland, and that began the most wonderful and challenging month of our lives. We met so many amazing people. People who took us in, and treated us like we were family. Launch week was all hands on deck, working day and night. We went to bed every night worn out but so fulfilled. Then Sunday April 2nd came. We had 150 in attendance, 2 recommitments, 1 salvation, and 20 next step cards. As usual, God gave us more than we prayed for! Each week we had new people attend, but we also had those that returned. One family sticks out in my mind. The dad is an atheist, mom, two little girls, and sweet little 7 year old named Eli. Each week, I talked with Eli and he was more excited than the week before. Each week the set up and tear down became more efficient, teams began to grow, and we had more than we expected in attendance. Real connections were being made and it was so much more than we hoped for!
Our last week there, we sat down for breakfast with the campus pastors, Rebeca and Iulian. Sharing our experience, thoughts, and feelings. At the end of our conversation, Iulian compared the last few weeks to having a newborn baby and that’s when God reminded me of the dreams I had 5 years ago. I was sitting there stunned and full of emotion. I honestly had not thought of those dreams in quite some time and here we were sitting in a coffee shop in Dundalk Ireland seeing our dreams become a reality. So needless to say, coming back home was hard for us. I felt like I was leaving so much behind; family, a calling, those that still need Jesus, and our baby, Lighthouse Dundalk. I wish I could say I’m fully past all that, but I’m not sure I ever will be. What I do know is that right now, God has a calling for us here to help our family in Ireland. With the non-profit we hope to help accelerate the timeline of future church plants and help push the gospel as quickly as possible across the beautiful island of Ireland.
