We are so thankful for you!   We are thankful for your prayers both for our family and for the University students of Ireland.  We love what we do and can hardly wait to get back.  According to a recent headline in a Irish newspaper, our job has grown in just the few months that we have been away.

“More students than farmers in Ireland, latest figures show” RECORD NUMBERS of students are enrolling in third-level colleges amid continuing uncertainty about employment prospects. The current academic year has seen unprecedented demand at the Central Applications Office (CAO), with applications up over 8 per cent… (Irish Times – 11 November 2009)

Isn’t that amazing?!!  We have an even greater challenge ahead of us and even more opportunity to see a nation changed.  We are counting down the days until our return to Ireland.

We hope and pray that you have a fantastic Thanksgiving Holiday surrounded by friends and family and that you know and experience God’s favor, provision, and incomparable love for you.  You are valuable to Him.

Take a moment with me and picture in your mind a large, strong arm with a hand at the end reaching out to gently touch someone or to  offer a piece of bread.  Interpretation—the hand is us, the Engets…… the missionaries.  All of our fingers are working and responding to the needs presented to us.  We are touching lives that come across our path with the gentle and embracing love of Jesus.  The arm is YOU.  You, the arm, extends the hand to reach out.  The arm mobilizes us to get to the various places where we can touch more lives with the Gospel.  The strong arm is able to lift the hand to places it could not reach on it’s own and with the strong arm there is strength to lift what the hand could not lift on it’s own.  But if the arm is weak and unsupportive, we, the hand are very limited in what we can accomplish.  We hear the brain (Our heavenly Father) giving us our instructions and direction and we are fully functioning, but limited without the proper support and strength of the arm.  Will you be a part of strengthening the arm that supports us?  Will you work with us to reach the hurting and lost Irish students? 

Our SFC students in Limerick are doing their best to carry on while we are away, but are struggling.  Please pray for them and for our speedy return to them.  Thank you for being such a vital part of what we do and what God is doing through us!

The only thing truly predictable about missionary life whether Stateside or overseas, is how unpredictable it is.  To call it “an Adventure” would almost be an understatement.  It’s a “Great Adventure”; though, that in no way diminished from the difficulties that are consistently presenting themselves.  And what have we learned so far on this Great Adventure??  I believe our family has learned and is learning the constant life choices we have to make.  Choosing to look at life and the constant change we face as missionaries from the top of the hill; always striving to look up rather than down.  Again, this in no way removes the hurts, the struggles or the stress.  And I would be lying if I said we always saw the silver lining of the clouds.  But we are learning that our attitudes and our choice of perspective makes all the difference.  Of course, our Heavenly Father is right there with us, as well.  He is the one who is always pointing the direction we need to be looking.  The question is,….are we looking for Him?  Are we watching where He’s pointing or are we too caught up in the daily stresses of life to notice that He’s even there?  Our girls are learning to find His handprint, to notice God’s presence when they are stressed about how different school is here in America.  When they feel they can’t struggle through another assignment they don’t understand fully.  We are even learning to see God’s hands at work in the lives of those who live around us and those whom we meet briefly at each new church.  And we are blessed!  God IS good!  He is so faithful. HE is unchanging and I’m so glad that is true.  My trust is in Him,…..that’s my choice no matter where I am.  So, we are halfway through our six months Stateside and counting down the days to our return to Ireland.  But our eyes must remain focused on Christ, our resolution firm in the kind of attitude that keeps us looking up.  There’s a lot of work to be done and a lot of life to live to the full.  What an Adventure!

Have you ever felt like a stranger in a place you thought was familiar?  That’s the position we often find ourselves in now back in America.  It amazes us how much of our adopted culture (Ireland) we have taken to heart and live from day to day without even thinking about it.  Our way of life in Ireland has become familiar and comfortable to us and now we find the American way of life a challenge.  Funny, isn’t it?  But it is a good thing.  We know and believe it’s what God has intended for us.  Since landing in very hot and humid Oklahoma, USA, we have hit the ground running – almost literally.  We had four days to begin to adjust to our new time zone and get over jet-lag, then we were off to Springfield, Missouri, for our Missions training/debriefing/renewal.  Driving on the right side of the road again did pose a few challenges from time to time – particularly when turning from one street to another.    But we have survived so far.  Ha!  After a few weeks time we set off from Springfield on our long journey towards the great state of Montana.  This too was not without it’s exciting moments when we quite suddenly came upon the beginnings of a tornado just south of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  As we watched the debris being blown across the road and feeling as though our car would be taken along with it, we were reminded of how volatile the weather could be in America and how thankful we are for God’s protecting hands.  

It was a joy to once again drive across the beautiful prairies of North Dakota and through the badlands.  We had the pleasure of stopping at the Roosevelt National Park where the girls were able to see live buffalo up close and personal.  They were actually lying in the road – a sizable herd of them.  The girls were overjoyed to see the amazing animals they had only read about in school in Ireland.  Then we were off to cross the immense state of Montana.  Driving across the high line of the state gave us plenty of time to practice our driving skills back in America.  Once we reached the mountains, we were all thrilled by the change of scenery and the majestic beauty that welcomed us.  We drove approximately 12 hours that day to end in a small town in the northwest corner of Montana, Hungry Horse.  This is where Grandma and Grandpa live (Brent’s mom and stepdad).  That statement alone should speak volumes to those who have children and grandchildren.  Thank you God that Your hand is with us no matter where we go or how we get there.  He is a Great God!

  A day in the life of a missionary family…. 

     Wake the girls one last time from their beds in our home, Get everyone a quick and simple breakfast and pack the last of the kitchen things away.  Wash the last few items of clothes and linens to be packed in the suitcases.  Welcome in the neighbors who have come over to say their goodbyes.  Help the girls each finish packing their bags for the plane and put away the last few things in their rooms.  Cry with our girls as they say goodbye to their friends and with our pastor and his wife as they help us to load the car.  One last look through the house we call home; the house that has been a place of worship, discipleship, teaching, counseling,    healing, training, and love for dozens of students.  Close the door and cry together as we leave the land of our calling, our passion, our home.  Though every day holds its own unique joys and challenges, this day was especially bittersweet for us.   No, the goodbyes were not permanent and yes, we most definitely plan on returning.  But those facts are hard to focus on in these moments. 

        Over the last  3 1/2 years, we have poured ourselves out as a family spiritually, emotionally, mentally and physically.  We have given all we have to  embrace our adopted culture, learn to relate/communicate to those around us, and share Jesus in both words and action.  We have used our skills, our talents and at times just a simple desire to serve and be used of God.  Has it been worth  it all??  Would we be ready to do it all again??  Without any reservation, our entire family cheers in unison “YES, YES, YES!!”  And we anticipate our speedy return to the land that holds our hearts…..Ireland.

Hmmm….so first of all,….what is your comfort zone? It is the atmosphere, group of people, or situation in which you feel at ease or comfortable.  Your comfort zone is not a bad thing.  We all have one.  But sometimes our comfort zone is not very large and/or we are not very good at pushing ourselves outside of it.  Do you think Jesus had a comfort zone?  Well, whether or not He did, we do know that according to Scriptures He was a friend to sinners and often ate with them.  I think you could safely say that Jesus was comfortable around sinners.  That being said, I have to ask,…..why aren’t most Christians?  It is my belief that many Christians feel the need to “protect” themselves from the world.  Yes, the Bible does say that we are to be “in the world, but not of it”, but the interpretations of that have gone a bit awry.  Jesus said that we are to be the salt & light of the world.  Neither of those things can be accomplished when we hold ourselves apart from the world.

Since coming to Ireland, most of the people we are around on a daily basis are unbelievers.  I admit, it took me quite some time to feel truly comfortable with this.    My comfort zone had to be stretched.  And that is just what God has done.  It was only just recently that I came to realize how much God had changed me and in the process has used me – used us (our family) – to be salt, to be light in Ireland.  To show the love of Jesus in our everyday lives to the people we see/meet/contact everyday and to be the tool through which the Holy Spirit draws them unto Christ.  (Thank you, Pastor Ed!)  I have to say, we love living life this way.  Why don’t you give it a try?

Last week was our last SFC Meeting for the school year and our last official meeting before we leave for furlough.  We had 17 students in attendance!  And realized that a few of our regular SFCers were still missing due to exams/study.  In our chatting afterwards, it was such a joy to listen to the students talk about coming into relationship with Christ, the ways they have grown in the Lord, and how they have been challenged in their faith over the last year.  We were also surprised by a student who approached us about possibly doing a year internship with us when we get back from the States.  We were absolutely thrilled about this!  The vision is being caught!  She has not made any final decisions on this yet, but we are attempting to work out details and how it might work/look.  Please pray with us about this.  It would be a fantastic opportunity both in her life and in ours.  This was a long term goal with our SFC group, but it looks as though God’s timing is ahead of ours. 

It was one of those unspoken, personal desires and requests made to God alone (and each other) that God recently answered for us, much to our delight! Since moving to Limerick, both Brent and I have really come to love the sport Rugby.  And particularly, Munster Rugby, which would be the team for the province of Ireland that we live in.  Brent was given two tickets to see a Munster Rugby match live, here in Limerick at the Thomond Park a few weeks ago and we had the time of our lives.  The weather was perfect that night – bright and sunny, which isn’t exactly the norm here in Ireland.  We were in the stands (which means you stand) on the east end of the park.  That means we were directly in front of the goal posts for half of the match, watching the “Men in Red” run across the trys!!  And they did!!  They beat Connacht with 4 trys and a few penalty kicks.  It was awesome!  The atmosphere itself was something to behold, but to witness a fantastic win was the icing on the cake.  We absolutely loved it!! The picture was taken from another perspective/view – we were standing behind the opposite goal post.

Wow! So much has happened since our last post and to say we’ve been busy would be a serious understatement. To begin with, there was St. Patrick’s Day.  Our church entered the Limerick City parade for the first time and also became the first non-Catholic church to have marched in the parade.  It was a perfect day in terms of weather and our entire family had parts to play.  Our girls marched along with Lori and several of the other children in our church and twirling ribbons.  Brent was a part of the team who were handing/tossing out sweets to the children on the street.  We also had a large flatbed truck with our worship team playing and representatives carrying flags from every nation that is represented in our church – 27 nations!  It was a sight to see!  And we were so proud to be a part of it.  In the end, our church was voted “Champions of the Parade!”

Just a few short days later, we had our 2nd SFC Entryway Event – Art/Talent Exhibit Nite.  With the help of our church, we rented a room downstairs from where our local congregation meets on Sundays.  (Our church too rents it’s space in a very large building in the City Centre.)  With the very limited amount of time (as per rental) we quickly set up a cafe-type setting to the best of our ability and made arrangements for students to display their art/photography/poetry around the room. We also had a microphone set up for those who wanted to share a song or recite a poem.  All our SFC people brought baked good to share and we had coffee & teas, as well.  It was a huge success!

The very next day, was our SFC Girls Nite. We went out for a chinese dinner and then overnight at a dorm-like room owned by another local church.  The company was great, the chat was colorful & fun, and the sleep was greatly lacking.  We spent some time talking about what it means to be a Proverbs 31 woman and her characteristics.

And shortly following our Girls Nite was our SFC dinner night @ our house.  We had 17 students.  Brent’s discipleship teaching has been excellent and has really sparked some great conversation with the various students.  We also had a specific time of prayer for each of the students.  Some are making important and hard decisions regarding their futures and some are dealing with some very serious issues either in themselves or with friends & family.  Please, pray for Tracy, Hannah, Owen, Betsy, Louise, Candace, Josh, Tim, Mark, Ellie, Erin, Aisling, Deborah, Stella, Inga, Fiona, Mark F, Bethany, Ben, Phil.