We have been blessed with news of some great opportunities for advancing the ministry over the next two weeks. On Saturday I called Tim, the director of the conference that we will be attending 15-18 Feb to confirm that we were going to be able to have an information table and to make a short presentation at the beginning of one of the main sessions as previously discussed with another conference organizer.

He confirmed that he had arranged for these and that they had about 200 lay leaders registered from all over Europe. In addition he asked about our interest in organizing what they are calling ‘special-interest groups’. They originally invited us to conduct a workshop, but limited facilities eliminated the workshop option. Our original contact had mentioned the special-interest groups that would be held in small groups gathered throughout the main meeting room, but I was under the impression that they were being held during a break, so I was expecting 10-20 minutes.

Tim told me Saturday that they would be 1 1/2 hours, so I told him we would definitely like to do that. This will give us the opportunity to not only share about the ministry, but to also walk through a model study so that they can actually experience what a CBSI study is like.

We have purchased some bags with the CBSI-Europe logo printed on them for people to use for materials at the conference and then take home and hopefully use regularly and advertise the ministry through-out Europe. Here’s a photo:

So, on to the next opportunity, which came by way of an email this morning. We are scheduled to drive to Cork on Tuesday to visit with friends and key contacts Roger and Carey. They have been a strategic connection for interviews at LifeFM Christian radio station in Cork and for connecting with Christian leaders possibly interested in using CBSI studies. Roger, an American missionary, has completed his term with LifeFM and is now working with Focus on the Family Ireland.

I received an email this morning asking if we would be available to come on Monday instead. He explained that “we have an ongoing partnership with Transformation Limerick in one of the roughest housing estates in Ireland (Moyross); but the Lord is doing some amazing things there! Each Monday night there is a prayer meeting in the Community Centre, and the Director of Focus on the Family Ireland (Stephen Cardy) asked if you might like to come along? It might be a tremendous opening–please let me know what you think.” Stephen had emailed Roger earlier to ask us “to come here on Monday and possibly stay for the Moyross Meeting  – Their tools and expertiese might have a compelling application there?”

This seemed like a ‘no-brainer’ from the Lord, so I coordinated with the couple with whom we had planned dinner on Monday to meet another evening and called Roger to confirm arrangements and possibly arrange a dinner with Stephen Cardy before the prayer meeting. We hope that we may have a chance to share some about CBSI at the prayer meeting and to collaborate in the future with Focus on the Family in offering CBSI as a Bible study resource for those connected with their ministry.

Please join us in praying for these opportunities as they have significant possibilities for expanding the ministry not only in Ireland but throughout Europe.