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RBC-supported missionaries Steve & Julia left for full-time work in Ireland only a few weeks ago. Here is an update from them:

We have been in Ireland now for 5 weeks and God has been very gracious to us as we get settled in. We arrived during a difficult rental housing marked with little property available and it disappearing fast.  In spite of that, within the first week God provided us with a beautiful modern 2 bedroom furnished apartment with lots of windows and light in an excellent neighborhood. God has also helped us get our utilities and broadband set up, find a reliable used car, obtain car insurance, open a bank account, get our Irish version of social security numbers, and begin the process of getting permission to remain in the country.  We are living in the suburbs of Cork in southeastern Ireland.

We are currently working with Douglas Baptist Church outside of Cork. Douglas Baptist is one of 14 churches in Cork and Kerry counties that have joined together in coordinating activities and in working together to plant new churches in areas with no evangelic church.  There are two new church plants in the works. These churches have one joint service each year; we attended that service at the end of September. It is exciting to see how God has grown His church in southern Ireland as the 500+ people came together for worship and teaching.

We have been able to get heavily involved in ministry here also. There are several Bible studies each week that we participate in along with special ladies’ and men’s meetings we have attended. These activities have been very important in helping us meet people, build relationships, and gain trust for future ministry. Steve was asked to teach a lot sooner than expected and just finished teaching 3 Bible studies and preaching the Sunday sermon in the last week.

We would appreciate your prayers for:

• Gaining permission from immigration to remain in the country.
• Julia, a North American, serving as a coordinator for a wedding on Oct 19 between a Filipino man and a Brazilian woman in an Irish
• church – lots of cultural issues come up.
• Learning the culture – new vocabulary, word pronunciation, and behaviors.
• Steve’s short-term mission trip (Oct 15-22) to Croatia with some men from Reston Bible Church to work on a church building
• Our trip back to the States (Oct 30-Nov 11) to visit family and have our belongings shipped to Ireland

Please be in prayer for Steve & Julia as they begin their new life & ministry in Ireland. Pray for grace and opportunity as they seek to know Christ and make Him known in Ireland.