A growing bambino

So thought it was time an update was written about our little one growing. It has been so mad to think that 6mths have gone by already. It seems such a blur due to being so sick and always something happening but the last week has been so much more enjoyable.

It is amazing and weird to feel the movements getting stronger and more frequent. I'm not sure if you ever get used to feeling that kind of movement, it really is a miracle when you try to get your mind around what is happening. This little person is growing away inside of me and we're just counting down the time till we meet him/her face to face. It can be overwhelming but also very exciting. We bought a cot a few weeks ago and it was so cool to come back one day to see it assembled in the room that is being transformed into a nursery. I have Alex to thank for that, he did a great job. We both get a giggle and a smile to our face when we pass by and see this small cot in the room and realize this will be for our child. A different chapter indeed :)

Alex has been amazing, he has been working so hard and is off to Dublin again this weekend to Dj for money to cover the bills. As I type now he is in Waterford dj-ing at a Christmas party. I'm so proud of him and look forward to him being back and enjoying some time off at Christmas. He really is something else though.

Thank goodness as well work wise it has picked up again a bit so that has been nice to be back to more hours this week. So hopefully that will keep going. Well it's almost half twelve at night and my eyes are beginning to close, I should really get to bed. But just wanted to drop a quick line. Xo

Slow but Steady

God has been doing some small but significant things over the past two months. In Ministry terms we are seeing some real growth in Lee Valley church where I(alex) speak and we attend. I have been preaching through Jesus teaching on the Kingdom of God. This has produced some great responses. The first of note is that the Church has responded to a challenge of how we could reach out to our community in Ballincollig and we have begun to prayer walk the area. Everyone was encouraged as God put the same things on all our hearts as we prayed. When we discussed it later it was unreal to see that He definately has a plan for the people of that area. People are sharing the Gospel and have a heart to disciple more and more.

We are really enjoying some close friends of ours continuing to grow in their new found walk with Jesus. We are discipling them once a week and it has been a real blessing to see them and even their language change. Phrases like, "we were lucky, now translate, we are blessed". this is so refreshing and exciting for Linda and I.

After much prayer and many attempts, God has finally moved the heart of a new volunteer for our monday night outreach to the guys on the streets of Cork. That ministry is called the Mustard seed and both Dave(His outreach) and I are very excited to disciple and enjoy the company of this new volunteer. His name is Ant and we would love you to pray for Him.

We have something possibly in the pipeline for the New Year which would be a real blessing to us and give us further support in what God would have us do here in Cork, but we are in the praying phase of this to see if this is something of Jesus and if it would be a fit for us also. We would love your prayers on this as well.

Finally just to say that Linda is an incredible mum already, she is waking up every half an hour at night, still feeling sick most days and is 6 months pregnant already(where does time go), but she never complains and has a great attitude, I am so proud of her, I could not do it I assure you. So both Mum and baby are really fit and well and we are so excited to begin this new chapter in the coming months.

All the best for now, will update soon, thanks for your prayers, support, love and thoughts, we are learning to trust Jesus with more and more of our stuff and thats never easy but never boring. Lots of love Alex and Linda

Massai ~ an answer to prayer

Well once again God has blown us away with his answer to prayer. We were talking to Elizabeth (in Kenya) and she was telling us the update on the Massai and the drought in Kenya. It is devastating at the moment and there are cows lying dead along the side of the road as the Massai are trying to get them to some grass. So much so they are illegally going into the National Park in Nairobi to feed on what little grass they can find. They are willing to risk their lives with the wild animals in there if it means that they will get food for the cows and goats.

So Elizabeth was also telling us about how many of the women were not able to make it to the Bible studies due to being so weak and thin from starving. It is very harsh for them at the moment and for so many others in the country. So I really felt God was putting it on my heart to raise some money so we can feed the Massai. So I sent out some info and a plea to people and within 36hrs all the money had been raised. It was unbelievable, I couldn't believe how responsive people were, it was so encouraging. So enough money was raised to feed 56 families for a month. To make matters even better there was a small team staying with Elizabeth and Robbie and they also saw the need and went shopping for supplies for two weeks for the families. Yesterday Elizabeth went shopping for the women and will go again today to buy more so all the families will be feed. It was so encouraging to hear how excited they were that on the 29Oct they would be receiving enough food for their family for a month. That is unheard of for them, to be guaranteed food for a total of a month and half by the two donations. Praise God for his plans eh, he doesn't just answer prayer he does it in style. I've attached some photos which Elizabeth sent through today. So cool to see so many faces we recognize, it brings a tear to the eye. We so wish we were out there. There will be more to follow.

Linda xo

Top news!!

Hey everyone,

You've probably heard already but if you haven't we thought we had better post it online. So we're pregnant!!! I'm 14wks at this stage and have to say that we're excited but also a little nervous. I've had constant nausea and sickness for almost 2mths now and I have to say that his definitely isn't one of the highlights. Could do with major prayer at this stage as I'm extremely housebound and feel like a hermit. This is hard as I love to get out and meet with people but I haven't seen that many for almost 2mths now, so that's already an adjustment. It is teaching me a lot about how our lives will change though :) Ok over to Alex for the rest of the update.

Things are really starting to gel as regards outreach and ministry opportunities. The youth group at Lee Valley is going from strength to strength and we have just mixed the group with one from douglas which has been a good move for all.

We are continuing to prayer walk the community around the Haven as we seek God's plan for how we might bless the people of Cork City. There are many needs here and many options, such as a food bank, or a serve the city option, but these are just ideas and we must wait on the Lord for His leading.

Sadly one of the young people we know from our homeless street ministry took an overdose by accident this week and He died, we were very upset at this as he was a great guy and had real potential, we will miss Him deeply.

Lots happening, great to see our dear friends growing in their faith as they continue discovering who Jesus is and what His Kingdom is all about.

My back seems to be getting a bit better, but it is hard to see Linda so sick and not being able to do anything about it. Other than that things are going great, we are both excited to see what will happen next and very excited about the arrival of our little bundle.

Excited

Why? Cause God is faithful even though we are not. Recently we felt God telling us not to go looking for ministry, that He would bring people into our path instead. The result is the Lord is giving us very exciting ideas about new ministry opportunities for us here in Cork. Linda and I have for a long time been disatisified with the status quo. The culmination of this is a holy discontent with doing the same old thing, so here's to new things.

Also it has been a joy to see the Lord drawing great friends of ours to himself recently. Their hunger for something more has been an insparation to us and yet more confirmation of what God has been saying about Church. It is great to see new believers encountering God and seeing Him moving in their lives is refreshing for an old timer like me.

The youth group at Lee Valley is going from strength to strength with a paring with another group coming in the Autumn, things are looking promising here.

Finally we are blessed to see one of our own, stan following in our footsteps by getting a youthwork job in Raheny. May he go onto greater things than us. Please continue to pray for us for strength as this is a time of sowing and reaping, exciting but tiring. Praise to the one who justifies us. here is to being in His hands.

Back from Kenya

So we have had an amazing time with the Living God in Kenya in seeing His creation. We saw Hippos, were chased by Rhinos and saw many Lions and even saw some at night hunt and eat cows and a dog.

We encountered Him in stillness and waiting and through His people, the Massai ladies who always educate us in the ways of Jesus. It was humbling to see grown women cry after they got a bar of soap and a small tub of vaseline, because God had heard their prayer for the little things.

We managed to get the well finished and signed off to the Massai widows, now they will be able to sell the water from it and grow crops such as potato and spinach so they can live on it and sell it.

I (Alex) got to teach through the book of Malachi, to a group of Pastors from different churches, which was a challenge and a huge blessing. I really grew through this trip, in patience, trust and faith in God and look forward to when we go back again. Alex

Yes so as Alex mentioned above we had an amazing time as always in Kenya :) We prayed about whether or not to take out a team and kept getting the answer that we were to just go without a team this time round. So we set off with Andrew (my brother) and his fiance Amy. The idea was to check up on how everything was going ie.the well, the women, the church and see what we could do in the future as future projects and see if we could set up stuff for teams to go out annually. We also wanted to network a bit more and meet more contacts and this would be more realistic to achieve without a team to have to watch over and organize. I have to say we really missed not having a team with us on this adventure but could totally see where God had his hand on everything and why we were to go on our own this time.

It was so nice to see the women again and see that they were all doing well. When we walked into Wilson airport and saw Charity it brought a smile to all our faces. And to hear all these Massai women calling our names, what a privilege to be able to walk into this place and feel like we were at home with them. We got to hang out with Charity, Nancy, Ann, Alice, Gladis and many more women. But how lovely to hang out with the ol faithfuls who have not forgotten us but have become our friends. We got to sit with many of them and hear their stories as we tried to take notes and account of their stories so we can share them with people in the future. As well as visiting with the Massai we got to hang out with people at church and also with Vera (we brought her the 1st yr we went to Kenya) and it was incredible to hear how she was doing as she is working at the Imani orhpanage for a few months. It really was a blessing to learn and listen to all these people who are doing incredible work out there in Kenya. We also got to meet quite a few people who are starting new churches and new ministries with Calvary Chapel churches in Kenya, so who knows where that will lead in the future.

We are already very excited and are dreaming about future plans and projects to bring teams on an annual basis so that they can part of it. So bring on the next trip :)

Right now we've been home for a week now and have been enjoying getting back into a routine with work and seeing friends and family. It's amazing how a trip to Kenya just makes you so grateful for the abundance of riches you have with our home, friends, family and lives here. We are so grateful for everyday that we have and the amount of stuff we have in that day in comparison to the Massai in Kenya. May God continue to meet their every needs. Linda Xo

Heartbreak

Well it's a very sad time for our family church at Lee Valley. Last night we received a call from one of the elders to let us know that little Adam who is 18mth died last night. Tanya & Kevin his parents are obviously heart broken as are their families. We only say Adam yesterday morning running round church as he normally does and seemed in great form. So to say the least this has come as a HUGE shock to their families and to their bigger family the church. Those of you that are in small churches understand the concept that being part of a smaller intimate church means you hurt with everyone that little bit more. Please pray for everyone involved who's hurting and grieving at the moment. The removal is on Thursday and the funeral is Friday. Praying for strength and peace for them at this horrible time. We're just speechless, please pray for us also that we can minister to those that are hurting and just be there for anyone who needs this. May God go before us all. Xo

Miracles

Hi all, as we begin our preperations for another trip to Kenya, just wanted to update you as to what has been happening in our lives. God is really challenging us to take every moment with Him that we think of it and to enjoy our Abba(Father) son/daughter relationship with Him. It has been refreshing to think of five minutes in God's presence as something He is delighted with rather than a dissapointment on our behalfs that it is not more time. Hope that makes sense.

The result is a real Joy and a want to spend more time in the Father's presence. Strongly recommend a book called "The Furious Longing Of God", by Brennan Manning.

It has been a long time since I have witnessed a miracle in a Church service, this is worrying as I say it, but Linda and I went away for a little break to Bantry to celebrate her Birthday and we went to a church service there last sunday.
At the end of worship a guy stood up to share something. He stood back from the mic and started breathing heavily a number of times.

I noticed a blet he had tied around chest high and I have to be honest I thought Weirdo. But then to my shame He began to speak and He said He had spoken witha severe stammer for 48 years, and the belt was to remind Him to breathe. As a result of this He spoke for around 3 minutes without stuttering once. I can tell you this, it's also a long time since I saw a whole room of grown men weeping as to what clearly was an incredible work of Jesus.

Things are going good for us, still discipling and preaching here, looking forward to Her birthday party on Sat as many are coming from all over, so for now, be blessed and we will update soon

Cork

Hi all, a quick update, just to say that things are looking up a bit, here in Cork. We obviously had a great time away, but since we came we have been re-evaluating things as to what we are doing here. I have been encouraged on Monday nights as we seek tyo help the homeless on the streets her, one or two small breakthroughs have helped and we are really getting a feel and a heart for the people of Cork.

This morning we attended the second youth workers meeting, it was encouraging to see quite a few volunteers from around the county sharing what God is doing in their areas, to see that God is definately at work in different areas and with different people groups. We will miss the next one which is disapointing but being in Kenya should help to dull the pain.

I am speaking in Lee Valley tomorrow and then will focus on preparing talks for the bible school in Kenya.

Still thinking and praying through ideas as to how to reach the goth and emo teens who are coming regurlarly to the Haven in the City. there can be 30 of them at times and we are excited to see what God will do in their lives. It's also a daunting challenge but God is good and alot smarter than us so we will try to follow His lead.

Hope this finds you well, we had a lovely time with Alastair and Joseph from dublin last weekend, encluding wakeboarding which was alot of fun.

Let us know how you are doing. All the best.

Machu picchu and puno

Sorry it's been awhile we've been busy being sick, touring and travelling. Just wanted to let u know that our health has been improved so that has an answer to prayer. It took awhile to get rid of that nasty bug but when travelled to machu picchu we could feel ourselves improving. It was so nice feeling better and being able to take in the amazing sites of all that is and surrounds machu picchu. We climbed up this crazy mountain which had us way above sea level. We had an icredible view of mp down below.

We then headed back to cusco for two nights and got to walk around and enjoy the city, unlike when we first arrived. So this morning we got up at 5.30am to get to airport for our next flt. So we flew to juliaca and then got a taxi from there to puno ,took 45mins so wasn't too far. The scenery is something else it is so different from the green of cusco and mp. It is kind of more brown colours, blue skies, really low clouds and a mixture of vast flat lands and mountains and then we saw lake titicaca, the highest navigatable lake in the world. At the moment we're 3,827 metres up. Tomorrow we're heading out to see uros islands and taquile island so looking forward to that.

We'll try to blog again soon. Xo

Hot

Well were about to leave Lima and head for Cusco tonight, on our way to see Machu Picchu, it has been so hot here especially at night, Linda got sun stroke yesterday and we think a flu as well so prayer for wellness would be greatly appreciated.

Yesterday we went down town to the coast in Lima and saw a pre Incan temple, where they used to do human sacrifice etc. It was amazing to see the structures which still survive till today, even after all the earthquakes over the years.

It was cool to feel a tremor run through our building but gladly no damage done. The coast was lovely with a cool breeze and good waves which was nice to see the surfing there. Will update again soon, keep u posted, thanks for checking up on us, God bless you.

Lima!!!

Ok so after 16hrs between waiting in Miami airport and flights we arrived in Lima at the nice old hour of 4.10am!!! What a legend my friend Marie came and met us at the airport. It was so cool to see her, haven't seen her since our wedding almost 5yrs ago.

Well firstly to say it was so sad to say goodbye to the Steiners we miss them unbelievably. Had a blessed and wonderful hanging out with them. They blessed and looked after us so well. Now we are on our next adventure and it has been that already. We came from the airport back to their house to drop off our bags and straight to a mining company where Marie and Zalo teach an English class so we helped out with that from 7.30-9.30am. Did you ever think that after a few hours sleep we could function that well hehe. Well miracles can happen. We then came back home after the class to change clothes and then were off to Gamaliel where these guys are involved in a great project. More on that to come. But we got to hang out with some pastors and meet some lovely people here. We got some taxis and local buses and headed out to this amazing place where we were surrounded by these huge mountains!!! Dust everywhere it is quite the desert place. On our way back at about 5.30pm we were sitting on the bus when these kids jumped on with a box and a shaker and started to busk as we traveling along. They were so noisy it was funny, as soon as they got money they jumped off onto another bus to do the same. Then these two guys got on with guitars and played Peruvian music. It was unreal, I don't think I'll forget that scene. So we got home and showered and then I ran to the airport with Marie to collect a present sent down from her dad and then we headed back in a taxi at night just the two of us!!!!!!! Scarey!! but what an experience. god is good and this is only the first day.

we'll blog as soon as we can . Love ye all. Do drop us a note. xo

In Indiana

Hey everyone,

So after 16hrs of traveling and waiting in airports we arrived in Indiana on Saturday evening. It was so good to see Paul and Abigail and of course the kids. Oh and of course Alex got pulled into the back room in chicago, same problems we have every time we try and go to the States. The worst thing is it is all over a typo by someone in Immigration and he gets pulled all the time. But thank the Lord he answers prayer as we only had to wait 20mins and we were told we could go that we were all set. It was so nice to go get our bags and continue the journey without too much hassle :) So yesterday (Sunday) we got to go to their church and see where they go, that was cool. Then we drove down south and met up with Mark and Jen for lunch and went shopping in an outlet mall. It has been so good to know we are on holidays and we have been able to switch off straight away and start relaxing so we are very grateful for that.

It's hard to believe that the days are going by so quickly and on thursday we head to Peru. So excited about that as well but at the same time will be sad to say goodbye here. So grateful to God for this blessing of travel though. It is amazing. Seeing so much of cultures round the world really get the blood pumping. We'll try and blog again soon. Hope everyone is doing well.

Alex & Linda Xo

Spring is here

Hey all, we are so encouraged to see the first fruits of spring, the trees are starting to sprout shoots, my grass is looking like it could do with a cut and we feel like we have shaken off our winter sleep.

This has been a hard season but rejoice with us as we feel a season of new growth is upon us. Just last sunday we had a discipleship meeting in our house for a few young people and God really moved and blessed eachone there. We worshipped, prayed aloud and encouraged eachother from the word.

Oh how I had missed those times and we were really encouraged by the Lord again. We have been through a long period of God telling us to wait on Him and His leading and it has been very hard, but we really felt Him directing us to run this group and it was really good, much better than anything we could have come up with, EVEN THE TEENS LIKED IT!!!

Linda and I are very excited about joining many other Christian young people to worship and enjoy God in Kilkenny in 10 days and we can't wait to see how he will bless and move at that time.

On a personal note, we are putting the final preperations together for our trip to Peru in march, and can't wait to see our good friends the Steiners in the US on the way. We also felt the Lord lead us back to Kenya after much prayer and waiting, so God willing Linda, myself, Andrew and Amy will go together there in June to visit Robbie and Elizabeth and our Massai friends, so should be a good time of networking and relationship building.

Anyway have to run, but hope this finds you all well, keep praying for us please, rejoicing in Jesus this spring love Alex and Linda

Hello

Hey everyone, well it's been awhile since I've (Linda) blogged so I though I would share some thoughts with you today. I can't believe how time is ticking by so quickly and Jan is nearly at an end. Isn't it amazing how time can just fly by. Over the last month we have been taking time out really seeking God about lots of things in our life at the moment. God has been so faithful in giving us that peace that surpasses all understanding :) especially during those times when we got lost in frustration or confusion.

The last few months have really been challenging and growing as the direction we were so sure of has changed. God has continually spoken to us about resting and loving him just for him and not just because of what we do. We are learning so much lately of how important it is to be rather than to do, and I have to say for two active people that is not always easy. So it's been a major re-adjustment over the last while. But I think in a way we're starting to enjoy some new found freedom where we just get to hang out with friends and each other. That has been really nice.

Work wise Alex still works away at the Haven cafe and he loves it there. There are some great people inside there with great hearts so he has been encouraged about all of that. I am working away as busy as ever with work booking missionaries and many people round the world. I work Mon, Wed & Thurs evenings from 8-midnight and then Tues and Fri mornings from 9.30-1.30am. So the hours aren't ideal and can be tiring and takes me out from a bit during the week, but I am so grateful for the work and bringing money in.

In other things that are happening we were at the first Cork youth workers meeting last Saturday and were very encouraged to see 12 youth leaders turn up. Especially for the first one and in particular how that day a storm was happening outside hehe. So praise God for new beginnings and new relationships that are starting to build. Alex also goes out on a Monday evening with a great guy from Grace and they bring soup, sandwiches and clothes to the homeless people on the streets of Cork. It has been encouraging to hear the stories of contacts being made and conversations being had. I know Alex is really enjoying the experience, even when it is lashing raining and freezing all in the same evening. The funny thing is, is that the other guy that he goes out with is also from Dublin, so how cool it is to see the Dubs caring for those on our streets.

The other thing we are involved in is the teens weekend coming up in February this year. This is the 3rd year it is running and it has been so encouraging to see how may are now involved in the planning of it all. This year we are transitioning from having American speakers to it being all Irish. So it has been a big leap but a manageable one. We have some very gifted people on the team and it is such a highlight to see 7 different groups working together to see the teens in Ireland discipled and the youth leaders encouraged and supported. So this weekend is happening on the weekend of the 20-22nd of February so we value your prayers as there is still a lot to organize and get done.

So that's the latest at the moment but just wanted to keep things going on this blog. I know we haven't been great with it lately. Anyhow thanks for reading this and for keeping up with our lives. We'd love to hear how you're doing yourselves. So be sure to drop us a line.

Until later. Xo

6 years together

Man waiting and resting is hard to do. We have felt the lord telling us to wait on Him and take a time of rest over this period but for two hyper go getters that is horrible. All the same it has been a great time to just hang out with people and to have people over to the house with no agenda except relationship building. It's amazing how quickly time passes as Linda and I are together 6 years today, which is a bit crazy, but cool at the same time. I think I love her more now than i did back then, which is cool to know.

We are praying about starting up a small group for young people who are serious about being discipled and committed to being regularly involved in something. We are finally getting a rest after a hectic holiday season, with work, weddings and all the family stuff behind us, so here we are waiting and resting for the spring/summer season that lies ahead, we hope this finds you in good form, and we wish Clive and Emma, my best friend and His new wife the very best as a married couple for the future.