My week in Ireland was difficult/humbling/tiring/restful/comforting. It was diffihumbltirestforting. Thank you AT&T & Wes Anderson.

I led worship at a conference for missionaries from all over the world: Uganda, Thailand, Ethiopia, The United States of America, China, South Africa, and Zulu, Indiana, just to give you an idea.

This is where we stayed and had the conference, at Barberstown Castle, which is about 30 minutes outside Dublin.

I had my own room. And a bidet.

The toilet had artwork inside the bowel. Little blue and white flowers painted on the linoleum. I felt bad actually using the bathroom. There was also a heated towel rack, which should be mandatory in every bathroom ever.

This was a 5 star hotel. To give you an idea of how I’m used to traveling, I packed my sleeping bag and my own towel for the trip. I think the staff at the hotel was offended. Whatever. I don’t need your silly chocolates on the pillow.

But thanks for the heated towel rack. That I will accept with open arms and a clean, showered body.

My father and step-mother were there as well. I haven’t seen them since I’ve moved to Seattle, so it was really great to be with them for a week. There are very, very few things as good as having a Guinness with your father. I think it’s safe to say that God drinks Guinness, and He probably gets it from Dublin, because as the bartender told us regarding why Guinness tastes different in the States, “It doesn’t travel well.”

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The people at this conference, I believe, where the giants of the Kingdom. There are all kinds of individuals we glorify as a culture because they are writers or speakers or dynamic personalities, but I really believe that in the age to come we’ll all be surprised as to who are glorified in the eyes of God.

A brief story.

Demi and Marta are Ethiopians who run Project Mercy. Project Mercy promotes education, health care, and other holistic community development projects to create economically independent communities with high ethical and social values. After years of responding to humanitarian crises throughout Africa, Project Mercy seeks to end the cycle of famine and disease through holistic community development initiatives. Their programs include the Medhane-Alem School, the Glenn C. Olsen Hospital, men’s and women’s skills enhancement, dairy cattle breeding, an agriculture program, and HIV/AIDS orphan care.

There is more.

Demi and Marta were dignitaries in the Ethiopian government. They were hosts to presidents and kings and prime ministers and the Queen of England. They have an incredibly brilliant story full of rich details, but to summarize, they eventually had to flee their country in secret as refugees because of religious persecution. They went from having everything to not having food or water for their own children.

As refugees in Fort Wayne, Indiana, which has a large refugee population, they began Project Mercy. They now live again in Eithiopia where they continue their work.

This was one couple out of the 50 some people at the retreat, all of whom have stories of grace and mercy, trial and triumph.

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I do not feel worthy to wash the feet of the people at that retreat, much less lead them in something as sacred as worship. It was humbling. It was also a very difficult week because I realized how much I have invested my soul into Mars Hill Graduate School. I’m not just there reading texts and writing papers. I’m co-creating, as are the rest of the students. I realized how much I love school during that week of being away. It is terribly difficult and emotionally draining, but worth it. It is going to be an interesting few years here at school.

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(Photography site coming soon. You can give me currency and I’ll send you something pretty.)

Tags: less is more, spirituality, travel

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