One Year in Ireland

I can hardly believe it, but exactly one year ago today our family arrived in Ireland!

And what a year it has been…

We settled in to a new home and had to learn things like how to get hot water and turn on the oven. We’ve adjusted from a hot, dry climate to a cool, wet climate. We’ve navigated through round-a-bouts and gotten used to driving on the left. We’ve drank more tea in the last year than in the previous 30 years combined.

We’ve seen our oldest child start school – and welcomed our youngest child into the world. We celebrated 10 years of marriage together. We’ve had a few visitors from home (and would love to see more). We’ve made lots of new friends and missed lots of old friends.

We’ve been challenged in our faith and forced to examine what we believe and why. We’ve been disappointed at what seems like a lack of results. At times, we’ve questioned if what we are doing is making any difference at all. We’ve prayed a lot. We’ve cried a lot. We’ve grown closer to God.

We’ve shared our faith with dozens of people. We’ve walked in a St. Patrick’s Day parade. We’ve walked 75 miles with a wooden cross. We’ve reached out to the community that we live in and helped meet needs. We’ve seen God speak into the lives of people here in amazing ways.

We’ve watched God provide for us time and time again. We’ve learned that being totally dependent on God is the best place to be.

Through it all, we’ve thanked God for using you, His people, to allow us to be here – striving, sharing, and serving. It is truly such a privilege – and we are both humbled and grateful for your partnership.

We have now reached the half-way point of our initial 2-year commitment to OM Ireland. Please continue to pray for our family as we begin to seek God’s direction for our next steps. That could be here in Ireland or perhaps somewhere else – we don’t know yet.

One thing we that we do know for sure is that we will follow wherever He leads.

Every Blessing,

The Bryant Family

May Quarterly Newsletter

Some updates from our ministry in Ireland.

Bryant Bulletin May 10

Support OM Ireland! Click here to purchase a new song for St. Patrick's Day!

This is very cool! An original song put together by an all-Irish band, inspired by the writing on St. Patrick's breastplate.

Not only is the song inspiring, but the band (Mr. JAG) has given OM Ireland the rights to the single - which means that 100% of the proceeds go to support the ministry of OM Ireland.

Just in time to celebrate St. Patrick's Day! Please purchase this (only 89 cents U.S) and tell all your friends about it.

Click here to learn more about St. Patrick's Breastplate.

Here is the heart of the song, taken from the words on the breastplate:

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

Bryant Family Newsletter - February 2010

Bryant Bulletin Feb 10

Can You Hear Me Now?

Greetings & Happy New Year from Ireland!

Recently Colm, one of our good Irish friends, went to an area hospital for a long-scheduled doctor appointment. He has a family history involving stomach cancer and was headed in for his annual procedure to check on that.

With the Irish healthcare system being what it is, just getting in to see the doctor is quite an ordeal in itself. Not every town has a hospital, and just because there is a hospital doesn’t mean that all services are available there. So to see his “local” doctor, our friend had to take a 1 ½ hour bus ride, and then waited at the hospital for another 1 ½ hours before his name was called. So before the appointment had even started, the exasperation and frustration were already reaching high levels! Imagine then what happened next…

Nurse: Right, then. Colm, we are ready for your hearing test.

Colm: What?!

Nurse: I said – WE ARE READY FOR YOUR HEARING TEST.

Colm: What?!?!

Nurse: I SAID-

Colm: I heard what you said, but I don’t understand what you mean. I’m not here for a hearing test!

After following her back to the waiting room, he was able to look at his chart and see that the hearing test was one that had been requested 2 years earlier as part of his bus driving certification (among other things, Colm drives OM Ireland’s Big Red Bus). So, since he was already there and the doctor wasn’t prepared for the other procedure that Colm had been expecting, he had his hearing tested. As it turns out, the testing they were able to do indicated that he wasn’t able to hear sounds at very high and very low frequencies and they recommended him for further testing. Interestingly, by having a test done that he wasn’t even expecting, a potential problem was identified and now Colm will be able to prepare for the next steps regarding that problem.

After laughing at this story (which you probably really have to hear Colm tell in his Irish accent to appreciate), I realized that sometimes God calls us in for unscheduled hearing tests too. A “spiritual” hearing test, if you will. Often, these tests can come at the end of long journey and/or a lot of waiting – just like when Colm went to the hospital.

Has that ever happened to you before? I know it has happened to me – when I am expecting something to happen, or asking Him for direction, or asking Him to intervene – and then God does something that is not at all what I want. He takes me in a totally different direction than what I was hoping for. In fact, sometimes it seems to me like the situation is made way more complicated, troublesome, tragic, etc. than it needs to be.

But then (usually after the situation has passed) you realize that if God hadn’t brought you through those circumstances in just exactly the way that He chose to, you would have missed the opportunity to learn something important about yourself and your relationship with Him.

It’s God’s way of saying, “I know you were expecting a different procedure, but my chart indicates you are overdue for a hearing test. Now concentrate and pay attention. Can you hear me? Are you listening to me?”

If you haven’t had your hearing checked lately, it may be time to schedule an appointment with the Great Physician. His office is always open, there is no wait, and there’s not even a co-payment to make!

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” – Matthew 11:15

Update on Us

Wow...how the time flies by!!

We have been very busy in the process of getting settled in and have already been involved in quite a bit of outreach, training, etc.

Here is a brief timeline of what we have been up to since the last post in early August.

• Aug 1st-15th: Involved with Big Red Bus and evangelism events with team visiting from Holland on a short-term trip
  
• Aug 16th: We moved in to the house we are renting, in a place called Portrunny, near Lough Ree
  
• Aug 24th: Dax's first official day at the office at Lacken House
  
• Aug 24th: Met with one of the top basketball coaches in Ireland to see about getting involved with his program - very excited about the opportunities here!
  
• Aug 30th: Finn's 3rd birthday!
• Sept 1st: Liam's first day of school
• Sept 3rd: Ran a basketball practice for a girl's high school team in Athlone
• Sept 4th: Played late-night basketball with a group of guys from Athlone
• Sept 9th: Liam's 5th birthday!
• Sept 10th: Taught a class on the book of Acts to our "Immersion" class
• Sept 11th: Shared a devotion for the team at OM Ireland and taught another class to Our "Immersion" team on the book of Revelation
• Sept 12th: Sarah had a Dr. appt to check on the baby, everything went well and the doctor thought it could be any day now!
  

I am so excited to see what God is doing here in Ireland and how he is going to use our family and what we are going to learn from Him. It seems as though some doors are already opening for sports ministry here. God has placed one of the top basketball coaches in the country in my path and there is a great opportunity there to take part in the program he has established - which could go a long way to creating some inroads within the community. I am looking at a possible event near the end of November involving rugby if God works everything out. And further down the road, I am making contacts to partner with other groups in an effort to do some short-term work at the World Cup in South Africa next summer.

Sarah and the boys are doing well. Sarah, of course, is quite uncomfortable at the moment and really ready to have the baby. She looks absolutely beautiful! Liam is really enjoying school and seems to be blossoming there. Finn is adjusting to not having big brother around all day and is really surprising us with his verbal skills.

We have not managed to get Internet service at our home yet. For some reason, which no one at the phone company can explain to me, our phone line is "not eligible" for high-speed internet service. We are looking at other options and praying that God will provide in this - as we really would like to be in more constant communication with our family and support team.

One major item we have left to do is to buy a car for me. We had a car given to us after we arrived here which will work for the family car - praise God! I'm hoping to get this resolved in the next couple of days.

We are reminded every day that God has blessed us and provides for all of our needs. We can't say thank you enough to those of you who are praying for us and supporting us from back home.

Until next time...

1st Week in Ireland

We have been here in Co. Roscommon for just over a week now and thought we would provide a little update on what has been happening. It has mainly been a process of adjusting to the time zone difference (8 hours ahead of US Pacific Time) and getting a bearing on our surroundings. We have also spent a considerable amount of time trying to find a suitable house for us to rent. There has not been a lot of luck in that area so far, but we do have 3 appointments this evening, so we are praying that one of them will work. At the moment we are staying in a 2 room chalet at the HQ, which we are grateful for but also anxious to find our own place. We also need a permanent address in order to find a doctor for Sarah and the baby and find a school for Liam.

Beyond that, I have been attending morning devotions with the team and just getting to know everyone a bit. I feel that once we get our house situation settled, I'll be able to get in to a routine and hammer out some details of what my ministry here will look like.

I attended a community meeting last week regarding a site called Clanmacnoise being submitted as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The history of Clanmacnoise is pretty amazing and we were there to support the notion that the Christian heritage needed to be preserved and that it should be a place of living faith and pilgrimage. Their were other representatives from the community there as well, mostly farmers who fear that their land will be subject to severe restrictions. It was a very heated open forum meeting that climaxed in a "walk-out" after many speeches, cheering, and jeering.

Sarah and the boys are adjusting to everything pretty well. A lot of sleep and rest seems to be what they are needing and getting for the most part. Of course, they will be able to get in to a routine as well once we get the housing situation resolved. Sarah is enjoying the company of the 3 other pregnant women on the team and this fall promises to be very eventful as we welcome 5 new babies between mid-August and mid-October!

That's all for now...thank you for your prayers, support, and interest! We'll update again soon (hopefullly from our house!)