Ireland update: Cork City

My same o-team from Bantry last week (Emily, Melina, and I) arrived in Cork City Saturday evening, and spent the night with an organization called Street Pastors. This group cares for street revelers and people out on Saturday nights during and after the popular pub hours. Their shifts run from 10pm-4am each week. At least three people go out, and at least three people remain at the base to pray and receive calls from the street pastors for updates every 15-20 minutes. They administer first aid, call cabs, break up fights, and answer questions. They have several opportunities to tell people why they do what they do and their purpose is to share the love of Jesus rather than promote a particular church. We served as prayer pastors that night. It was really great to start the week serving them and seeing right away some of what God is doing in Cork. The organization is interdenominational as well, so we got to talk with people from a number of different churches who were united for this ministry as well as hear some of the difficulties they have encountered while working together.

Throughout the week, we served at a Christian bookstore, a coffee shop and a Christian radio station, learning about the visions for each ministry and seeing some of the ways God uses them. We recorded our testimonies for the radio, which was pretty daunting, but I got to see many of the connections God has made in my testimony through my time here in Ireland. We also got to learn some audio editing, and spent the afternoon helping the station do that.

The coffee shop, called The Haven, was my favorite experience, being run for the purpose of maintaining an atmosphere open to questions from Christians and nonchristians. It is very much an avenue for discussion, spreading the love of Jesus over particular theological stances and inviting people into conversation. In fact, I met a nun who is very much involved in everything the Haven does, being a counselor and a trustee there. She is truly incredible. There is a very diverse group of regulars that spend time there, and it is a very vibrant place. They also offer counseling, toddler play groups, and space for things like open mic nights and church gatherings. It is a bridge between secular and nonsecular, reflecting the owner’s vision for unity in the city of Cork and God working beyond the margins of the church.

We were in Cork with Trinity Presbyterian Church for the whole week, staying in the pastor’s home. This country is very hospitable, and I have loved feeling like part of each of the families I have encountered here. We got to participate in the Sunday service, an inter-denominational prayer meeting, a prayer meeting within Trinity, and a bible study. The church is very involved in the community in Cork.

In many ways, this was a wonderful way to spend the final week of outreach teams for the summer. My time in Cork certainly reminded me of the need for Christ in Ireland. There are deep divisions within the church as well as between the church and the secular community, and yet the efforts at unity that we were able to witness showed great potential for the future of the city. I think missions (at least in the western world) is going to look more and more like the coffee shop in Cork– building bridges between the secular and non-secular community to share the love of Christ through open, honest discussion. The church coming to the people, not people flooding the church while the church hospitably waits. It is really beautiful.

As I write this, I am on a bus to Dublin where we will be reuniting as a team of Americans to spend our last week in Donegal. We will return to America very soon–I can hardly believe it and it certainly feels bittersweet. Something tells me it isn’t my last time in Ireland, however, and I am very thankful for the lasting friendships I have made here. This place is forever embedded in my heart. Also, it is worth noting that it has rained during every single transition that involved goodbyes this summer.

Thank you again for your prayer and support– the number of people involved in this opportunity amazes me.

Ireland update: Bantry, Co Cork

This week, my o-team worked for a couple, David and Elizabeth, who have been independent church planters for several years, but who are also farmers and recently opened a “pod paírc.” They are very committed to all that they do and it was inspiring to experience their daily life and try to give them a bit of a break while we were with them.

We participated in a kids cookery camp that involved around 30 kids who spent one hour cooking and one hour learning about God and the Bible each day, Monday through Friday. They went home every evening with two new recipes they had tried, usually some kind of craft, a new memory verse, and a new application for a Bible story. Emily, Melina, and I each had a team for the week of 8-9 kids with instructions to get to know them, love them, and pray for them. It has been really awesome to see their enthusiasm and love for one another and just to hear about their lives, what they eat and what they don’t, and why they are or aren’t excited about God. Many of them wouldn’t have heard stories from the Bible or sang worship songs or prayed before coming to camp this week, so we have seen a variety of reactions. The idea of cookery camp is great for parents to see fruit from sending their kids to the camp even if they aren’t as comfortable with the Bible aspects.

Our o-team has stayed in the church for about half of the nights we have been here and in David and Elizabeth’s pods for the other half. For our nights in the church we usually had the chance to wander around Bantry, sing and play piano in the sanctuary, explore the variety of books in the church, and head off to sleep in our surprisingly-very-comfortable makeshift beds in the third-floor prayer room.

The pod paírc is basically a high-tech campground with little wooden, round buildings that have one room for however many beds, an outlet, a heater, and lamps. The more luxurious ones have double beds, a small bathroom, a sink, a microwave, and a small table as well. I will post pictures of those on Facebook later on, but the one we stayed in had enough room for us to turn our beds so they were against each other in a row and use the rest of the space for walking into the pod and storing our bags. They had a separate large building that the pod-dwellers shared for toilets, showers, kitchens, a recreational room, and wifi. I honestly could have lived in them for weeks- I think we all realized how easy our time with Serge has made it to live simply with our light packing and many transitions.

David and Elizabeth have really welcomed us into their life, their home, and their church this week. I have had yet another experience of true Acts-like community in Ireland and it really has helped embed the Irish churches I’ve worked with into my heart forever. We even got to talk to David about his church planting vision and experiences, and I realized yet again the amazing opportunity for unity in Irish churches shining brightly through the darkness of widespread apathy toward faith. The Irish cannot “church-hop” for a place to meet all of their ascetic needs, but instead usually have one church available to them- for better or for worse. True inclusion is often a characteristic of these small church plants, and addressing the questions and doubts and brokenness to engage in continual growth in relationship with Jesus is commonplace in their time together as a body. It is beautiful.

Please continue to pray for the transformation God has been doing to be rooted deeper and deeper in my heart and in my team as we work together for another week in Cork City, starting tonight, and as we prepare for our return to the States in two weeks to live it out long-term. Pray that we would live knowing his love for us and loving others well freely from that love we have been given, rather than from our own strength, our own control, our own selfishness.

Thank you all for this opportunity, I pray that it has been encouraging for you to hear how God transcends worldly barriers and a glimpse of what he is doing in another place across the world as well as in me. I would love to answer any questions you may have, and thank you so much for accepting my invitation to participate through reading, praying, and/or supporting throughout the summer.

Zephaniah 3:17

The Lord your God is with you,
The Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
but will rejoice over you with singing.

Ireland update: Gorey, Greystones, and Manresa

Picking up from my last post, I spent two weeks in a small, rural town (which means something very different than in America) called Gorey in Wexford County, Ireland on an outreach team with two other American interns and two Irish interns, serving a recent church plant there. We experienced a mix of big-picture approaches as well as more focused approaches, ranging from pick-up football (soccer) matches with kids to conversations with adults.

We also did a softball camp during the second week, where we learned and taught softball together to kids ages 6-13 to allow the church to make connections with families in the area and provide a way for the community to gather during the summer holiday. We had a 5 minute talk at the end of each day, so each of us chose a topic and spoke about it for one of them. These demonstrated a truth about the Gospel such as our need for a savior or God desiring a relationship with us and incorporated a fun sports analogy to demonstrate it.

It was great to spend two weeks learning from some amazing people who have picked up and left their towns over and over to spread the love of Jesus. It was certainly humbling also, as they had wonderful motivation and joy throughout hours on end serving.

We gathered back in Greystones on July 4th to debrief as a team of Irish and American interns. We gave presentations, affirmed one another, and just spent time hanging out before saying goodbyes. This weekend was difficult, as I am sure some of them will be lifelong friends and seeing our cultures come together as we learned from one another was so beautiful. I didn’t expect to feel so at home or to bond so deeply during this short time together, but I think the rest of the Americans would agree that we grew just as close with the Irish as with each other.

The Americans then spent three days in a Jesuit retreat center in Dublin called Manresa, where we practiced silence and solitude and ways to bring spiritual disciplines back to hectic lives. This was refreshing and restorative after so much moving around and learning over the last month. God was teaching me how to be still before him and listen for His Voice again.

The best thing about this internship is that every part of it has participated in transforming us individually and as a team. It will go with me throughout life as I continue to walk with Christ and learn how to love others, and the entire experience has certainly become a major part of my relationship with Christ and how He is transforming me.

We are now split off into o-teams again, only American, and mine will be spending one week in Bantry working for a cookery camp at a church there and another week in Cork City serving various ministries in the community there alongside the church. I can already see that this is a beautiful place and a really lively town for its size. It’s pretty much exactly what I would picture when I think of Ireland- green, mist, rocky hills, sheep, and winding roads- so that’s a perk.

I’m no longer noticing many of the cultural differences and I have a new home to add to the list of them. I have fallen in love with Irish culture and really feel as if it has become a part of me. I’ve been joking that I plan to bring It back to America to “make disciples” of Irish culture. But on a more serious note, crossing cultures has allowed me to see ways in which humanity is just humanity- created in the image of God- relational at its core and able to love one another in its differences, rather than in spite of them. Christlike love.

It’s hard to believe that after this o-team I will only have a week left before returning to America. I do miss it though, and will enjoy being back. This is not nearly all I could say, but it is a decent overview. I appreciate your prayers and look forward to seeing you all.

Ireland: Dublin and Encounter

It’s probably time to sort through all of the things I’ve learned and try to somehow give you all a picture of my time in Ireland so far, which is, shockingly, a quarter of the summer.  There are a few things I expected from Ireland, like lots of green, beautiful landscapes, sheep, accents, tea, and beer.  I expected spiritual growth and lots of new relationships.  These have certainly been part of the experience.  I did not expect such drastic differences in the culture here, being an English-speaking country, so I thought I would give you all a glimpse into some of them.

First of all, the food is absolutely amazing.  Especially the bread and soup.  Gaelic is the historical language of Ireland, and is actually still the national language here, though almost all who speak it are bilingual.  I have been learning it in the context of slang and lessons from Phil in Irish accents.  Sarcasm is quite popular here, as well as “slagging” which is making fun of someone out of love;  I fit in pretty well with that so far.  They call chips “crisps” here, and french fries are “chips.”  Kind of confusing, but they go out just for “chips” here and call the places that sell them “chippers,” so that’s fun.  Cookies are biscuits, and trousers are pants.  The Americans learned the pants thing relatively quickly, since “pants” means underwear here.  You don’t exactly want to tell someone you like their pants.  They also have a beautiful history, culture, and arts–one of the coolest things I’ve seen so far was the Chester Beatty Museum/Library where some of the oldest manuscripts (from between 150 AD and 250 AD) of the gospels and Pauline letters are housed.

After barely making our second flight from London to Dublin and losing some of our team’s luggage temporarily along the way, we arrived in Dublin on Thursday, June 5th.  We spent the first four days as a team of American interns, getting to know some of the missionaries here with Serge as we explored the city, learned about cultural differences and began to prepare our hearts to take a posture of learning for the summer.  Some adventures from those days included figuring out public transportation, engaging in conversation with people in the city, walking around with the goal of getting lost, first Guinness in an Irish pub, and late-night and throughout-the-day theological conversations (this bit wasn’t that different from America).  On Monday, June 9th, we traveled south via Dart (metro) along the cliffs over the Irish Sea and arrived in Greystones, where we merged as a team of Irish and American interns.  Greystones has mountains and cliffs overlooking the Sea with continual cool breezes, even during a heat wave.  I certainly didn’t expect to get a suntan while in Ireland, but with Greystones having a considerable amount less rainfall than the rest of Ireland and a streak of sunny days that last forever (the sky begins to lighten at about 3:30 a.m. and it doesn’t get fully dark until about 1 a.m.), it happened.  We have been on a hike at Sugar Loaf as well as a walk along the cliffs over the Sea from Greystones to Bray that were absolutely beautiful.

We are here for a retreat, going through Sonship curriculum together to open our hearts to embrace and deeply embed the truth that we are sons and daughters of God with Christ (Romans 8).  This involved thirteen lectures, reflection time each day, mentoring one-on-one for each of us, and peer prayer groups to really help the truths sink in and allow the Spirit to show us the sin and desires deep in our hearts and pray for Him to bring satisfaction and beauty out of brokenness.  We have bonded as a team through these revelations and been able to move closer to fearlessly loving others together as we die to self and find our ultimate source of love in God, the only One who can satisfy.  In the last few days, we have taken steps to bring what we have learned out into the world through prayer walking and 2×2 evangelism throughout the city, forming visions for how the Spirit can use it and us throughout the summer and after the summer in our lives.

I found out yesterday that I and four other interns will be placed in Gorey in the south of Ireland for the first outreach team.  We will be heading there tomorrow morning, moving into a house there, grocery shopping on a team budget and cooking meals together as we engage in an outreach-focused church community.  It is more of a rural community near beaches, but is growing.

Please pray for:

• God to continue to embed the Truths we have learned deep into our hearts so we won’t forget them with time but they will instead grow more and more.  That we would know we are sons and daughters who are delighted in by our Father and that His love is truly enough for us to fearlessly and vulnerably love others and let the Spirit pour out of us.
• For the relationships we have built over these last two weeks going through goodbyes and time split into teams, that we would have impacted each other by the end of our time together and that we would make the effort to continue our presence in each other’s lives according to God’s will.
• Unity in our outreach teams, and healthy conflict resolution as needed while we spend two weeks living in close quarters and working together.  Gorey specifically could either have a ton of free time or very little, but it is hard to tell right now which one it will be.
• The church in Gorey, a relatively new church plant, for growth and strength in its presently small, growing community.  That our team would be refreshing and helpful in serving the leaders there and that we would be able to go in with posture of learning, being led by the Spirit in humility and love.
• Those we encounter in conversation, that they would have softened hearts that would hear the Truth about the God we know and love, and that above whatever we can say that we would be able to represent Christ there to the youth we will be working with and anyone we meet in general.
• Growth in my love for missions and discernment for the future in my role and possibly location.  Also, provision for more missionaries to Ireland through this experience of Encounter.

I will continue to update as I get chances to do so.  It has been really awesome to see quite literal grace at the fray with beautiful unity where two cultures merge in Christ.  Thank you all so much for your support and love through this incredible journey.

Ireland Update: PRAISE

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support throughout the last few months, as well as your interest in the vision of Serge and this internship! There are more details in my previous post, but I have now received $500 in donations in two days, which is exactly how much I needed in addition to what I can donate myself. I will officially start my journey to Ireland on Tuesday, June 3rd!

The intern team has two days of orientation in Pennsylvania before we board the plane, and we will arrive in Ireland on June 5th. I am packed and ready to go, enjoying my last couple of days in the U.S. with family and friends. I will return on August 1st.

Please continue to pray throughout the summer, and thank you again for partnering with me on this journey. It has been so awesome to see the many ways God provides and answers prayer in His timing and to learn to trust His faithfulness through times of great need when I’m tempted to doubt.

I have seen donations come from joyful givers and from those who did not even agree with the purpose of the internship. I have been given so many opportunities to share about missions in general and the Gospel in sharing my heart for Ireland already, and it is only the beginning. Those who pray and give are just as important as those who go. Please continue to intercede for our team throughout the summer.

Prayer Points:

that God would work in my heart and in our team to help us continually live out the grace that He has given us with joy and humility in order to glorify Him

for the people we reach out to, that the Holy Spirit would open their hearts to be receptive to Him and the grace offered through the gospel

for safety as we travel and throughout the summer, that our effectiveness would not be harmed by illness, injury, etc.

that we would grow in our faith and come back with a better understanding of who God is and what our hearts for missions should look like in being reflections of Him

discernment for our futures in missions and renewed, embedded passion for sharing Christ’s love in humility wherever we go

that our motives would be purified and God’s grace would shine through us to pour out on others

You can follow this via e-mail, continue to check Facebook for updates, or comment on this to join my prayer team and receive e-mail updates from me throughout the summer! I will update every few weeks, as often as I am able to, as well as when I return. Let me know if you have any questions before Monday!

Ireland update: 11 Days!

Hi friends! Deployment is fast approaching, and though my updates probably won’t change a ton over the next couple of weeks, I do have several praises to share.

I have had so many people call and e-mail me wanting to give over the last week and a half, and am so much closer to my goal of $5,500. I was also able to give more than I expected from my own funds. It is difficult to estimate exactly where I am, since the amount pledged is drastically higher than the amount in the account, but my official update this week was $2,944.81. With pledges, I should be at about 90%, which is so awesome. That’s around $2,000 coming in! The Lord is providing in huge ways.

Please continue to pray over the updates from last week regarding my heart, support, and just being present where I am as I prepare to leave. Pray that no logistical issues will complicate the process, such as checks taking too long to show up, etc. Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support. I have been able to share the vision of this internship with so many people, and your interest alone is a praise.

If you’d like to give, visit www.whm.org/give/give-to-a-missionary and select Corey Turner from the dropdown menu.

Thank you all again for playing a huge role in sending me to Ireland.

Ireland: 21 Days!

I just received my weekly update! I am now at $2,794.81, which is $365 more than last week. Thank you so much for your fervent prayers and your willingness to give. I know the Lord is faithful and will not withhold provision if His Will is for me to serve in Ireland this summer.

Nehemiah 1-2:8 has really been encouraging to me this week during my quiet time with God. In this passage, Nehemiah has a mission on his heart and does not know what to do about it. He petitions and fasts before God, trusting that the opportunity and the provision to act will come from Him. God then provides an opportunity, and Nehemiah goes before the king in a huge step of faith to see if his request is pleasing to the king. This is such a perfect picture of support raising and working towards a goal while trusting God for provision.

Prayer Updates:

I have been reading more about Irish history this week and the hurt that has brought about their love/hate relationship with the church. Please pray that the mission team serving full time in Ireland, the church leaders there, and our intern team will be used by God to redeem any negative views of Him.

Pray that we would prepare for the cultural differences and learn from the Irish with humility, really getting to know them and their culture. That we would not make hasty assumptions or comparisons between Irish and American culture that make us seem arrogant.

Pray for the hearts of my family and friends to be reached by my support raising and for them to have a genuine desire to understand why I’m doing this. Support raising can be a ministry in itself, so the more opportunities I have to cast vision for the need in Ireland, the better.

Pray that God would continue to prepare my heart. Being away from everything known is scary. Pray that as I leave my comfort zone, I would not take my eyes off of the Lord and would really be dependent on Him for each step; that I would have Nehemiah’s faith.

I am currently at 51% of the $5,500 total needed, and the deadline is today. I will continue to raise past this deadline as needed, but if the money does not come in before departure, I cannot go. Please pray for this need: that God would provide in ways I never thought possible, and that I would continue to depend on Him as the source, trusting that He knows my timeline. Praise God that a few people have already contacted me today about giving! I ask that you would please pray over your role in giving to this internship as well, in whatever capacity you can.

If you would like to help support me in this mission, go to http://www.whm.org/give/give-to-a-missionary and select Corey Turner from the dropdown menu.

I so much appreciate your prayer and support throughout my preparation. It has been so awesome to see God move through you with words of encouragement, prayer, and giving. We are all different members to the same body, having different roles to serve the goal of glorifying God through our devoting our lives to Him. Whether we are praying, giving, going, or some combination, we all have a role in God’s mission. Thank you.

2 Corinthians 8:12-13

12 For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have. 13 Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. 14 At the present time your plenty will supply what they need.

Ireland Update: Abide in Him

After so many e-mails and phone calls and conversations over the last week with people who wanted to learn more about Ireland in order to pray and give financially, I received my new update today. I am officially at $4,079.81 out of $5,500! The total went up by $1,000 since last week. With what I can donate to the total myself, I am still about $500 short.

I am currently learning the hardest and most important lesson in support raising and in life as a Christian in general: dependence. Yes, I’ve learned this lesson gradually, too, and certainly during this process of asking people to give to this cause when I know I cannot use my own abilities to give them the same heart for it. But this is different.

I leave Tuesday. I know now more than ever that sending out a hundred e-mails or making phone calls or reminding people who pledged a month ago will not bring this money in. Nothing I can do in my own abilities as a human being can logically be enough to change anything, anywhere.

Dependence is what I set out to learn through this process from the very beginning, and it can only be learned to a certain point through receiving huge surprise donations with two months left until the deadline. This lesson is learned through waiting in humility. Through watching the deadline come and go and knowing that I myself did not deserve a penny of what has come in and thus wondering why I would possibly be given $500 more in five days. Through spending time on my knees pleading with God because He is literally the only way this will be provided because He has allowed me to finally realize that He is the only reason any of it has been provided at all.

When I should be jumping for joy in gratitude, I find myself frustrated and waiting and trying not to doubt. This is what I asked you to pray for. It’s not easy, but it is a lesson I will need. Everything I do in Ireland and for the Kingdom of God forever will be done only by me yielding in obedience to what He wills to do through me. It will never be about my own abilities or advertising skills. This is the ultimate preparation for serving in humility on the mission field. This is why I can be still, packed and waiting to go, communicating these difficult feelings with my supporters honestly- because I know God provides.

This dependence is how we get to experience the joy Paul talks about in Ephesians 4:

10 I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

I have been planning to write about the word abide for quite some time, since God really embedded it in my heart during my quiet time one morning. Now seems like a great time, as it will be good to revisit the passage myself, too.
John 15:1-8

I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

The word abide (or remain, depending on the translation of your Bible) is repeated several times, making it stand out clearly in the passage. This word indicates continual action, as a branch remains in the vine continually as it grows. To apply it very specificially, support raising would bear no fruit if God wasn’t in the process, and remaining in God as I go through it means He has been and is pruning and cutting away, working in my heart to make me more like Him and preparing me for the work He has called me to on the mission field. This truth means I can stand still when He calls me to, only because He continues training me to hear His voice and obey. What a truth to hold onto when I’m out of my comfort zone and far away from everything I know in just five days. He provides.

Thank you for your interest and support, my friends. Please continue to pray, and contact me with any questions or comments at cst3ev@virginia.edu. If you’d like to give, go to the website below and select Corey Turner from the dropdown menu!

www.whm.org/give/give-to-a-missionary

Ireland: Prayer Updates!

If you have previously been reading this, feel free to scroll down for prayer updates. I will be going to Ireland for two months starting on June 3rd to serve as an intern for a Christian missions organization called World Harvest Mission/Serge. To learn more about this organization, visit www.serge.org.

Our intern team will be working with the full-time missionaries in Dublin, Ireland to learn more about overseas missions and God’s call on our lives. This internship will change my heart in many ways as I serving the full-time mission there for the summer and pray about a life-time of spreading the Gospel.

This week of preparation is special, because my support money is due Thursday, May 15th. I currently have 44% of the money raised, and I need $3,051.69. I will continue to support raise after this deadline as needed, but I cannot go if the full amount is not met.

The end goal of this is not to convince you to give me money. The end goal is that I would be able to go; that God would work through me during a summer of spreading the Gospel to further His Kingdom. Preparing for Ireland has been so much a process of God working in my heart. I have felt the pain of not knowing that my help comes from the Lord, and have felt the joy that comes with a renewed knowledge of this Truth. God comes through, and I know His Will will be done for Ireland, too.

If I am called to go, He will provide the money. This is why support raising is so daunting and so awesome simultaneously–it exposes our need for God and through this need, we get to watch Him provide. When money comes, we know we can only give God the glory, because through all of the rejection, He can still do the impossible. Please pray that I would continue to know this Truth, and that it would be sewn deeper and deeper into who I am in Christ.

Would you be willing to pray about supporting me in this mission? If you would like to give, go to http://www.whm.org/give-to-a-missionary and select Corey Turner from the dropdown menu. Those who give are just as necessary to this mission as those who go. I would love to answer any of your questions and tell you more about this mission that has been placed on my heart.

Please continue to pray for my dependence on the Lord for each aspect of preparation and for my time in Ireland, that He would continue to transform my heart and use me. Pray that the support would be provided in full, and that I would be able to go. Pray for the missionaries in Ireland and the rest of my intern team as they prepare and serve on the field, and pray for the hearts of the Irish to be receptive to the Gospel and the grace I have come to know–a grace that can only come from God.

I so much appreciate your prayer and partnership in this process, and will continue to update you as I am updated each week.

Matthew 10:6-10

6 “Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. 7 As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of Heaven has come near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, clease those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.
9 Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts–10 no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep.

Ireland Update: 39 Days

The first of this week’s updates is the name change of World Harvest Mission to Serge! See the website and watch the video below to learn more about why this change has been made and how it will allow the organization to better serve all over the world.

Friends, I’m getting SO excited.  Itineraries are posted and people are praying and giving to be a part of this amazing opportunity to spread the Gospel as an intern with World Harvest Mission/Serge. Thank you so much for every way that you are taking part, especially by reading this to learn about what God is doing in Ireland and praying.

My heart is so full of joy after reflecting and seeing how this process has brought me to further dependence on the Lord, and it’s far from over.

I am now at $2,348.31 total raised, which is 43% of the total $5,500 needed by May 15th.  That’s almost half!

Please continue to pray for the following:

• preparing for the journey spiritually and logistically
• discernment in mine and the team’s futures
• continued support
• motivation to prepare
• increased dependence on the Lord

and above all that the Lord would help me to live out the grace that He has given me with joy and humility to glorify Him–this is the pursuit of Christ-likeness.

I still need $3,151.69 in order to go!  If you’d like to give, go to www.whm.org/give/give-to-a-missionary and select Corey Turner from the dropdown menu.  You can also follow this blog by e-mail to continue to receive updates.

John 15:4-5

4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you.  No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine.  Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.  5 I am the vine; you are the branches.  If you remain in me and I in you, you ill bear much fruit;  apart from me you can do nothing.