Pastor Marvin and Pastor Jack traveled to Europe in March 2023 seeking to learn from, encourage, bless and listen to our field partners in Ireland, Hungary and Romania, and a potential partner in Albania. The first stop on their journey took them to Galway, Ireland, where they visited Discovery Church, led by Pastor Paul Cullen. Pastor Jack wrote:
There are many great things happening here. For example, we had the opportunity to spend a day with the two amazing people standing on either side of Pastor Paul Cullen, pictured above left. They are Kevin and Michelle Shaw, and they have been in Ireland for a little over 12 months. Originally from the UK, they spent several years in Cyprus as church planters and now, in addition to being a force of encouragement for churches here in Ireland, operate an international network to connect and encourage grass root church planters globally. They were wonderful, and were eager to take us to Moycullen (a small village outside Galway) where an American pastor is attempting to plant a church (see photo above middle), where we spent time prayer-walking the community to seek God’s favor in building breakthrough relationships. The Body of Christ is beautiful, and it’s amazing to be able to have an instantaneous connection with people through the Spirit of Jesus as we pray together, seek together and dream about what God is asking us all to do together.
Pastors Marvin and Jack also had the opportunity to meet Liam and Francesca, and expressed,
They are incredible! They are working with Discovery Church’s church plant in Tuam (pronounced “Chew-em”). Five years ago, Liam was just out of prison and living on the street. He came to Christ through Discovery’s Food-Truck Feeding Ministry in a miraculous way and started serving and building community at Discovery. There, he met Francesca (who has an amazing story as well), and they’ve been married for about three years. They both faithfully serve Jesus in helping to lead the church plant. Their heart, enthusiasm, commitment to Jesus and to one another and the community around them reminded me of Margaret Mead’s famous quote to, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
The second leg of the journey for Pastors Marvin and Jack took them to Korça, Albania, where Ashley & Flori Adili had invited them to come and explore the potential for partnership with the local church network there. Pastor Jack reported,
The Evangelical Church network is engaging their community in many ways; they operate a Safe House for girls and an Elderly Resident Home for elderly members of society that can no longer live safely on their own. They also run a food delivery program taking food to 30-50 individuals on a daily basis, as well as providing a safe space at the church for students to come after school to play and have fun. Decisions are still being made regarding the potential for partnership.
While in Hungary, Pastors Marvin and Jack were able to connect with Trinity’s long-time friends, the Kovacs and the Menkes. During their time in Hungary our Pastors both met some amazing new people and had the opportunity to worship with Gypsy brothers and sisters in Kiskörös. “This is a brand new house fellowship that is, by all intents and purposes, a church. Many are new believers and desire to grow in their relationship with Jesus. It was a precious time of singing, testimony and prayer,” refelcted Pastor Jack. Both Jack and Marvin had the privilege of praying healing and courage and encouragement and grace over many who were present. God is up to something beautiful in this place.
Another enjoyable and fruitful experience was time spent with Sarah and Cullen Menke and their team as they loved on gypsy/Roma students with play, physical AND spiritual food, worship, conversation, hugs and so much more. Afterwards, the boys built a fire to warm everyone on a cool evening. “Beyond the warmth the fire provided, this fire represents so much more – passion for God, a village, and an entire city. It was beautiful!” said Pastor Jack.
The final leg of this journey took Pastors Marvin and Jack to Romania where they reconnected with Pastor Zsolt and the leadership of Contact Baptist Church. Notable experiences while there included a visit to the “Dorcas House”, a secondhand thrift shop serving as a revenue-generator and ministry of the Contact Baptist Church, as well as visiting a Gypsy after-school ministry where they teach math, spelling, the gospel and so much more. Pastor Jack noticed, “A spirit of love and honor and grace permeates the entire building, creating a safe place for the children to experience God.”