CUs: Illuminating Limerick

"In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 

because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 

being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you 

will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."  

Philippians 1:4-6

It's been ages since I last posted. Sorry about that! I guess it proves how busy I've been! Here's one of the (many) highlights from October:

One Wednesday Peter and I went up to Limerick to meet up with some students at UL and to go to LIT's first official CU meeting! First off, it was great to meet up with with students! I met with three international girls who are here for the semester. It's fun to hear where they've been traveling, to give them my own travel advice, and to empathize with what it means to be on study abroad. It was great to talk about God and pray with them on campus, in the middle of the canteen (cafeteria), in front of other students! They're all lovely girls and I'm glad that I have the privilege of meeting with them and befriending them even if their time here is short. It can be frustrating that I can't be in Limerick as much as I'm in Cork but I hope that the time I do get to spend up there is fruitful.

The student CU leaders at LIT have been planting seeds, planning, and praying for the past couple of months to get the CU up and running. At LIT's societies' day they had a lot of people sign up as interested in attending and most of those people were non-Christians! This came as a bit of a surprise because the vision the girls initially had for the CU was a place for Christians to fellowship and support each other. But I guess God had other plans! So we all had to shift our thinking and ideas about what the CU at LIT would look like. We decided that a "seeker" style Bible study would be best. It allows people to examine the Mark gospel and discover who Jesus was/is and what he did. People can ask questions, make informed decisions about Christ and Christianity, and hopefully encounter God in a real way. So, needless to say, we were all super excited about the first CU meeting!

There were 13 people at the first meeting!!! Considering some CUs in Ireland have 1 or 2 people in them, 13 is hugely encouraging! Peter led the study which looked at Jesus' healing of the paralytic in Mark 2. The discussion was good, the fellowship was good, and the tea was good! It is so exciting and encouraging to see a new CU get up and running! It took a lot of hard work, a lot of prayer, and there was a lot of stress for the girls who planned it, but it all came together in that first meeting! Like all CUs, LIT will still need to be bathed in prayer and will still need a lot of commitment and hard work. But the first meeting just proves that God brings to completion those things He desires for His kingdom's sake!

Please keep praying for LIT CU as they start making moves for God's kingdom on campus, and pray for the girls at UL as they travel, study, continue to acclimate to Irish culture, and eventually go back to their home countries. Pray that all Christian students in Limerick would shine God's light on their campuses!

Me, Sarah, and Noemi (2 girls from UL)