Church Family

We have an amazing home church here in Dublin. We are so grateful to be a part of a life-giving community called Open Arms Church. We joined during the 15 months of covid lockdowns in Ireland, where churches weren’t allowed to meet in person. I (Blake) was able to step in and help them with online recording for the Sunday services. We began to build relationships with everyone on the team and fell in love with the people and the atmosphere. We couldn’t ask for a better place to raise our two boys, who have made several what are sure to be lifelong friendships with other boys their age.

Once live services came back we really found our place to serve. I help with worship on Sundays in Dublin, oversee production for both locations, and am on the church leadership team. Katy helps volunteer with the kids ministry. Not only has being part of Open Arms made a tremendous impact on our family, but it has been game-changing for Zoe Community.

From the beginning, Open Arms and the lead pastors, Sean and Gil Booth, have been overwhelmingly supportive of the vision for Zoe Community and partnering with us through these foundational beginning years. We’re grateful to Pastors Sean and Gil and the entire Open Arms family.

We will be having Christmas services this year on Dec. 18th and a special Christmas Eve service on the 24th. Please be in prayer as we celebrate Christmas with our church family. We love and appreciate you all. Thank you for all your prayers and support throughout the year. We pray you have a blessed Christmas Season with friends and family.

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!

I’m sure many of you clicked on this hoping for an announcement of charity status approval. Sorry, not yet. We’re still optimistically waiting and praying…BUT I do have some great news…

We’re doing a Zoe Conference in Ireland! This will be a women’s conference designed to bring the women of this nation together to pray together, worship together, and be inspired together. We want them to know there is hope for them, their families, and their communities. 

Here’s the story…flying to Pennsylvania last September to spend time with our amazing partners at Summit Church, Katy and I asked Kim if she would mentor and help us in putting on our conference (Kim and her husband Mel are the pastors of Summit). 

Why Kim? Other than her being amazing and that she has a powerful testimony. Her life values/mission line up so perfectly with Zoe. She has also run a conference for many years now with 1,000+ women in attendance and powerful testimonies each year. 

With Kim and her amazing Summit Church team and many other people pitching in alongside us, we believe God is going to do something powerful in the lives of women across this nation. We will build these women up, raise awareness about Zoe Community, and develop trust with the local churches all around Ireland. The theme will be “She is…Back” as we welcome these ladies back from a long absence of Christian gatherings thanks to covid restrictions.

We are announcing to you, our faithful prayer and support team, because we need your prayers. We are praying to secure a venue within the next three weeks. Please pray with us as this will be the first of many steps in creating something very special and unique for the women of Ireland. 

Thank you!!

Boundaries...

This past week we had one of our periodic training sessions with our current volunteers. We try to keep updating our training and developing our team’s skillsets to better serve those who might come to us in crisis. This week Avril led us in a talk about the danger of unhealthy personal boundaries and how to create healthy ones.

These ladies have been so willing to giving their time and energy to train and prepare themselves to serve the women of this country. Many of our volunteers have been through many difficult situations themselves, which is why they have such a desire to come help us. I let them know on our zoom together about all of you praying, giving, and believing for them and their role for Zoe Community.

Please be in prayer for these amazing souls, many of whom have found healing through our training. They are eager for our launch, which we believe is soon-coming. Thank you for all you do. Together, we all make an amazing team!