LSU Chi Alpha Team

We had the best time hanging with the crew from Louisiana State University Chi Alpha. They came for a week and just left on Saturday. They helped us out at St. Marks Central and St. Marks South. They painted, handed out fliers, did surveys on two different campuses, and even babysat our kids. 

We have actually never before encountered a team that was so content, flexible, and friendly. They were truly the essence of what a short-term ministry team should be: a blessing for the long-term work that is happening. Their leader, Jonathan Buras, goes way back with us. Jonathan and his wife, Ali, were students with me (Katy) at LSU back when I was a student. They later came to work at OU with us a few years later. Upon returning to their alma mater, they kept in close contact with us and others in our ministry circle. When they told us they'd like to take a missions trip to Ireland, we were overjoyed! 

We cannot thank every member of the team enough for coming and helping. Jonathan, Morgan, Cade, Meaghan, Allie, Saraya, Alex, Katie, Cindy, Aaron, and Claire - you guys are da bomb. We absolutely loved getting to know you for a short time and hope to see you again soon. 

3 Prayer Requests

Here are five things coming up. Please keep us in your prayers.

1. St. Mark's South Alpha Course - This event happens every Tuesday evening. It is an outreach to the community of Ballybrack, giving people an opportunity to know God in a relaxed, neutral environment. Katy runs SMS Alpha.
2. LSU Chi Alpha Team - A group of university students from Louisiana State University will be coming to Ireland to help us with work on three different campuses over the week. Please pray for God-appointed opportunities with Irish students and for great relationships built. Also pray for this team, that God would speak if any of them are called to Ireland longterm.
3. VISA - This is more pending than coming up, but we are still waiting to hear about our visa approval. It has been over a year now, and we have heard nothing. We aren't worried, but it would be a huge psychological boost to have this finally come off our checklist.

Influence

We're excited to share an event that we helped put on this past weekend. Through the last couple of years we've worked with our friend, Peter Rigney, with Alpha Ireland. Through a few conversations we found God leading us to help university students enhance their leadership and influence with their peers.

Influence is a movement that is committed to sharing practical ways to live as a Jesus-follower in today’s university culture. We believe that Christian life is relevant as well as revolutionary. Our desire is to support and connect college students across Ireland as they live like Jesus and communicate His love to others. We are passionate about sharing ideas through free discussion. Influence does not believe in meaningless platitudes or surface-level ideas. We want to equip students to present truth in ways that are logical and reflect the depth of God’s love and power.

Yesterday we launched what we hope is the first of many training events called Influence. We gathered with a handful of student leaders and workers from Limerick, Carlow, and Dublin to train students in connecting their friends to Jesus.

As Students for Christ Ireland, we want to partner and facilitate movements like Influence. Our mission is to equip, empower, and encourage students across Ireland to glorify God on their campuses. Please keep us in prayer as we move forward and go check out our brand new website at www.influenceireland.com!

I have to add that none of this would have been possible without the help of my (Blake's) parents. We had such a great week with them spending time together. It is a testament to their level of support that they spend their final day with us babysitting so Katy and I could both be part of the launch event. Thanks mom and dad!

Thank you for all your prayers and support. We have an amazing team!