There is so much lore and legend surrounding Ireland. It is a beautiful land with a rich history and incredible people. It’s culture is a tapestry woven with ancient kings, Celtic druids, and one of the most famous Christian missionaries in all of history. It’s reputation for renowned hospitality and myriad shades of green are known around the world. Each time we have been to Ireland, it has marked us, stirring in us a sense of destiny and vision. It is the one place in the world we have been to that feels like we were knit to the land and people.
Beyond all of that, lies a purpose for Ireland mandated by the King of kings – transformational evangelists. Transformational because the Celtic way of evangelism differs greatly from our modern methods; it is not about simply bringing people into the Kingdom of God. Celtic evangelism says, “Now that you have been brought into the Kingdom, let’s discover how you can weave the Kingdom into every facet of your life.” This paradigm helped the early Celtic Christian missionaries to not only bring an understanding of the Gospel to non-believers, but bring an understanding of the native people to the missionary. There is no sacred/secular division in Celtic Christianity – every part of life is affected by the Gospel and every part reflects a Kingdom purpose. It was this transformational evangelism St. Patrick used to introduce the Gospel the non-believing Celts when he returned to Ireland as a bishop and it was this paradigm that launched thousands of Celtic Christian missionaries across Europe during the “Dark Ages.”
Europe now lies in a new “dark age” where people pass by thousand-year-old cathedrals but have never heard the name of Jesus. Europe – once the heart of Christianity and the seat of the Holy Roman Empire – now sits as the world’s newest “unreached people group.” This darkness has swept across a continent, allowing other belief systems to lure people away. But, God has a plan for Europe far above the schemes of the enemy and Ireland is a big key to that plan.
And so, part of our vision is to take the seeds of transformational prayer, night & day worship and unlocked created potential and sow them into a land and people rich with heritage and poised for revival – the nation of Ireland. The vision God has given us is to take teams to Ireland, but also bring teams from Ireland to Europe and America (and wherever else God says!). These teams would be modeled on the missional community style of the ancient Celtic Christian missionaries. Our heart is to eventually plant a training base in Ireland to equip and send teams around the nation and across the continent.