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!)

Goodbye Las Vegas, Hello Roscommon!

What an exciting few days it has been for us! With the help of friends, we successfully packed up the house and got the U-Haul loaded. Sarah and the boys went to the airport at 4pm to catch their 5:40 scheduled flight....which ended up not leaving until 10:30! I don't know how she survived that one. I stayed the night at our friends house (thank you Wittwers!) and drove 14 hours yesterday in the truck and stayed in Baker City, OR with Sarah's brother, then continued on to Enterprise this morning and got the truck unloaded & returned.

Our car sold for more than we thought it would, which will help us in getting a car once we get to Ireland - that was a real blessing!

AND...we received the go-ahead from our sending agency to purchase our airfare to Ireland since our support is at 93% and the exchange rate has improved! We bought our tickets today and will be departing from Portland on July 26 to Dublin. Praise God!

We still have 7% more that needs to be raised to get us to 100% of our financial requirement - this is about $300 per month.

This is a quick post, but we are all feeling a little wiped out and there is still much to do to prepare for our journey.

We do want to thank everyone who has been supporting us financially and praying for us - without you, this could not happen. Our God is good and it is our prayer that you will be blessed as you are a blessing to us.

Will update again soon!

Update - July 1

We are now at 89% of our financial goal - with about $300 left to get to 95% and be able to book our airfare. That could be just 6 more people contributing $50/month. That seems like so little, but at the same time it seems like a lot! In any case, we know our God is faithful and will provide abundantly for our every need.

We are still proceeding, in faith, that we will be departing at the end of July. The sale of our house is still going through and we have reserved a U-Haul to load up on July 6th to take to Enterprise, OR where we will store some of our stuff. Sarah & the boys will fly up that night and I will head out in the truck the next day.

Our commissioning service at our church was held this past Sunday and we were blessed with a special message from Pastor John and a charge from Dave McBride, who was there representing OM.

We are currently in San Diego spending time with Sarah's sister and her family and will return to Vegas tomorrow to continue packing up the house.

Please continue to pray that the remainder of our support comes in soon so that we can purchase our airfare quickly, for safety in our travels and moving, and for the boys as we go through all of these adjustments.

Closer...closer

Praise God for another supporter who joined the team today and with his monthly commitment, raised us up to 87% of our goal!

Just $371 in monthly commitments are needed for us to reach 95% and book our airfare to Ireland!

God is great and the jump of 2 percentage points today was a real encouragement for us. I am reminded daily of how he is in control.

What will tomorrow bring?