Pictures of the work we're doing

We've been at the job for two days! Here are some photos from the site.

This is the front of the building. It was built in the 1930's as a church and named Trinity Church, then was sold in the 1900's and made into the Labor Exchange. Just a couple years ago, the Trinity church we're here working with bought the old building to use as their new building. They had no idea at first that it was originally called Trinity church. How awesome is that?! Anyway, it's not much to look at from the outside, but it's amazing inside. Ok, it's a total mess right now, but the bones are amazing. I wish I could've seen it in all it's glory in the 1800s!!

Julia and I moving a bunch of lumber


This is the room we are working in all week. It is no where near done, but has come a long way since the purchased the building. Part of this room has to be move-in ready by next week because the church's old office building sold and they have to get out quick! It might not be perfect or totally ready, but they're coming anyway! This is the only really "good" looking room in the entire place right now.


Julia and Barry looking cute as ever




Paul doing some mudding






Josh and me in our full, safety gear






This is "our" room. Where we meet, have snacks/tea, and do our daily devotions. It's tiny and is at the top of the building. The condition of the room will kind of show you how the rest of the building looks.. it's in need of a lot of work!






This is the project I worked on the entire first day. It is a vent hood for the kitchen that had been sitting outside in the elements for over a year. We had to clean it up really good and it took a LOT of elbow grease!






Diana and me in the middle of it. (you can kind of see how nasty the inside of that thing was!) The only thing we had to clean it with was brillo type pads, rags, and gritty hand cleaner






Afterwards, all shiny! We didn't think it'd ever come clean!







Josh sanding away






Barry flexing his sanding muscles






Jacob in the sanding room. These three guys are doing an awesome job!








Barry got just a little dusty in the sanding room






This is the large room upstairs. We're not working in this room though. It is absolutely spectacular. The details in this room are amazing!!








Today (Tuesday) we got to go on a little shopping excursion during our lunch break. Christine, (the obvious Irish woman) is a member of the church and offered to take us. She is SO incredibly sweet! This is me, Sandra, Mary Ann and Christine






Just another picture to show how dilapidated the building is.

Here is a video of the main room (again, this is not the one we're working on. This one is on the 2nd floor (technically first floor since they call the one below it the ground floor.. whatever!) Sorry for the poor video quality...

More Ireland pictures

We've been here several days now and have finished our 2nd day at work. It's TOUGH work!! We're doing everything from sanding floors, painting, mudding, more sanding, more painting, scrubbing, cleaning, you name it! It's been hard, and we're all a little sore and high from paint/paint stripper fumes, but we're happy to be here.

We love it! Except for the rain. In case you didn't know, it rains in Ireland ALL THE TIME. But it's not too terrible. We just always take rain jackets! And the fact that several of us have almost gotten killed by buses and trains. That whole looking right instead of left before crossing the road is is difficult to remember! On Sunday, we went to church and then to Glendalough for the afternoon. It's amazing! Here are a few pictures from there.

So many incredibly old graves


Gorgeous lake


Just to prove we really were/are in Ireland :)

After the tour of Glendalough, we went to one of the church members house for a team dinner. It was delicious!! We had beef, roast potatoes, mashed potatoes, mashed turnips, mixed veggies, and carrots. For dessert we had trifles (which was basically banana pudding..very good) and fruit crisp (basically fruit cobbler) as well as fresh whipped cream. It was wonderful!

Our stay with our host family is going really well. We're actually staying with the pastor (although they don't like to use that word) and his wife, Fergus and Sarah. They're very gracious hosts and we love it. Two other team members, Dave and Sherry, are here too. Sarah has cooked us amazing meals every night and is taking great care of us! We're still adjusting to riding the train to and from town, but we're getting there. The first day, we watched our train go by and didn't get on. It can be quite confusing! All I can say is I sure am glad it's an English speaking country or else we'd be in REAL trouble!

Anyway, the stay is going well and we're having fun. It's definitely not been easy work or fun work necessarily, but it's so wonderful to know that we're helping to further the Kingdom of God by being here! Please continue to pray for our team as we're tired (not from jet lag anymore, but just tired from hard physical labor!!) and Satan is really trying to attack us each in different ways. We're all doing well though!

We're here!!

And we haven't slept in way too many hours to count. We got up yesterday, Friday, at 8:00 Texas time. It's now Saturday, 9:00 Ireland time, and we're just now getting to bed. It's been a loooong day (or two??) but we're here and we're alive! The host family we're staying with is super nice. David and Sherry are also staying at the same house with us. Partaaay :) A wonderful surprise: the house has Wi-Fi! So we shouldn't have any problems updating this blog, checking emails, etc. Hooray!

The flight to Chicago was fairly uneventful. And we survived the loooong flight to Ireland. The landing into Dublin was quite interesting. Apparently they had some serious wind and our plane was bouncing all over the place, quite literally. Talk about leaving fingernail marks in the seats! Anyway, we made it.

After we arrived in Dublin, we went to the Trinity church office building (which they just sold and have to be out of in 2 weeks, which is yet another reason we're working so hard to finish up some stuff!) to have an orientation, then meet our hosts. We drove to our hosts home and got settled. They live only a 10 minute walk from the beach!! we can't wait to see that! Afterwards, we met up with Kim Garrity and he showed us around downtown Dublin. We didn't really SEE much, it was more of a "this is something you may want to see" type thing. It was great because he showed us where the basic stuff was and how to get to it. Plus, I think we were all way too exhausted to actually do any real sightseeing.

Tomorrow, we'll head to church and then we're going out to the countryside to see some stuff. We're all really excited about that! Then, on Monday, we'll start our work with the church which is going to be really great. We can't wait! Please keep praying for our team as we are all completely, utterly exhausted! Here are a few pictures from today (yesterday?) for your viewing pleasure:

Getting ready to leave the church for DFW airport

Some of us on the flight to Dublin

We're in Ireland!!!

The Ireland flag

Somewhere in downtown Dublin

Dad - This is just for you.

One more day!!

We leave tomorrow! I can't believe it's finally HERE. Josh and I are excited and nervous, but so ready to go. Please be in prayer for us, and for the entire team, as Satan has already begun his dirty work. The discouragement, fear, and anxiety are among the things everyone is undoubtedly starting to experience. Please be in prayer that the Lord will comfort us, keep us safe, and do a mighty work through us.

We leave tomorrow afternoon and will arrive in Dublin on Saturday morning. Hopefully we'll be able to update soon!

Thank you for your support and prayers! We really appreciate it and are thrilled that you are teaming with us on this journey for the Lord!