Hello everyone! Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement over the past several weeks. Life has been very hectic, yet quite fulfilling lately, and it is only going to get more so with the Beltway team coming in less than three weeks! So here is a story and a few updates I want to share with y'all.

Dublin Airport

A few weeks ago Molly and I were returning from a 24-hour whirlwind trip to explore London with our visiting best friends, Leanne and Jacob. On the flight back from London we were all so exhausted we promptly fell asleep, and woke up, as most of us do, having the overwhelming urge to relieve ourselves. "No biggie," I told myself, "We'll find a place before we leave the Dublin airport for Enniscorthy."

How wrong I was.

One of the things Molly and I had been praying about prior to the trip was for the customs process back into Ireland to go smoothly. Our immigration officer in Enniscorthy had assured us that since our Residency was in process in Dublin, we would be allowed to travel wherever, as long as we returned to Ireland. As we proceeded through the Non-EU Resident queue we said a quick prayer and got out our paperwork. I was hoping for a quick smile/nod/stamp so I could excuse myself to the loo.

Sadly, as our Customs officer informed us, we were in fact travelling illegally and should never have left the Republic of Ireland while our Residency was in process. After hearing this, my face quickly turned red (a very Irish reaction) not out of anger at the customs officer (because he was doing his job well), but simply out of disappointment, realizing that our immigration officer in Enniscorthy had ill informed us. It was an awkward moment. So we handed him all of our bank statements, along with letters from Alive Church and the Irish government, and were taken back to their holding cell while the officer went through our papers. Not surprisingly, we also had to give up our cellphones with no way to contact Jacob or Leanne. Getting detained is the worst.

The Holding Cell

Lets be real guys. What picture comes to mind when you read the words "holding cell"? A dark smelly room under the airport? Strong iron bars to hold the international fugitives? A man playing a harmonica in the back corner, while other inmates do push-ups? Sadly, our holding cell was less theatrical and more awkward. Essentially it was a glass partitioned room just to the side of the Customs queue. Everyone who was welcomed into the Republic of Ireland got to parade past us, getting to observe the criminals serving their time like animals in a zoo. Only when they walked past the holding cell that day they got to see two Americans praying hard, all the while desperately trying to hold their bladders at bay. Our fellow inmate was not amused.

About 10 minutes in, I asked our inmate (a man of indecipherable nationality) how long he had been waiting. When he turned to me, I noticed that his left eye was blind with a scar above and below the socket, which only escalated whatever fears I had at that moment. He muttered, in a clearly indignant tone, "Two hours. This is madness". Looking back, I think I must have been really freaked out because I forgot to say, "This is Sparta". Coulda, shoulda, woulda. So what else could we do? We resolved to pray and not imagine waterfalls, rivers, brooks, or anything related to water. I should have brought a book.

It was a long, long hour.

Sweet Relief

I was pacing the cell when our Customs officer returned. He led us into a back room where he was going to deliver the verdict, when I asked him if we could use the restroom first. I am nothing if not a man of priorities. Unfortunately we were ushered into the bathrooms at random and Molly's turned out to be a nasty prison bathroom while mine was only used by the airport staff.

With our internal torture relieved, the officer then gave us the news and we left Dublin, arriving exactly on time for G-Force, our youth service. God provided guys! Not only are we legally allowed to travel wherever for the next two months if we need to, the customs officer also gave us information to send our residency papers directly to the head of the department, expediting the whole process! So we will find out soon what they decide. Molly and I were talking about it afterwards, and we both agree the whole 'getting detained adventure' was worth it if it means getting our Residency faster. All that to say, please be praying for favor with the Irish government and that we will be allowed to stay here doing what we do in the church!

Summer Camp is Coming Up!

Please be praying for the Alive Church summer camp that is coming up in about 2 &1/2 weeks. Beltway brings a team over every summer to put on a week-long camp for the city of Enniscorthy. Each year more and more kids attend and last year over 350 kids came to camp! For the last few months everyone in Alive Church has been praying and preparing for this week, and we expect it to be our biggest camp yet. Molly will be working with the children that week, and I will be working with the teens. Please pray for safe travels for the Beltway team, for more kids to receive Jesus Christ as their savior, and for new families to get involved in Alive Church as a result.

Also, for the first time ever in Alive Church, we are doing a Youth retreat the weekend before Summer Camp starts. Geoffrey Turner himself is going to be heading up the retreat, so you know it is going to be ridiculous. Pray for the youth to bond together, for their identity in Jesus Christ to be solidified, for healing to take place in their life, and for a passion for Jesus to be rekindled in their hearts.

Again, thank you guys so much. You are all amazing.

PS. Here are some pictures from London.