I don’t have a green thumb. I don’t have the patience to grow something like a garden. However, it’s amazing what can come from the hands of a skilled gardener. A lush garden starts with tiny seeds. Even the giant redwood trees began their majestic life as humble seeds. Given time and nurture, small things can grow large.

Just as redwoods start as seeds, so do churches. This summer Fleming Straughan went to Ireland for the Dublin Irish Prayer Summit and he described the church in Ireland to me as a seed in bloom.

This wasn’t the first time Fleming had been to Ireland on a missions trip. He went along with a team from Grace in 2001 to attend the first Dublin Prayer Conference. Ireland could hardly be considered a Christian nation. Like numerous citizens of the west, many of the Irish don’t have a religious affiliation or their affiliation is purely cultural. Someone may claim a Protestant or Catholic identity based on their parent’s faith, but that heritage has little personal meaning. Sound familiar to this side of the pond?

However, the church in Ireland endures because our God is the most skillful gardener. In fact, it does more than endure – it grows. Fleming told me about the diverse and creative outreach efforts going on across Ireland as Irish Christians make room for their unbelieving neighbors in their lives. He told me about churches buying property and putting up buildings in answer to their prayers. He told me story after story of God’s faithfulness and the fruit it is bearing in Ireland.

Fleming said his experience in Ireland was like honey. Someone else can tell you about it, but you don’t know what it’s really like until you’ve felt it stick to your fingers or until you’ve tasted its sweetness on your tongue. Don’t take my word for it. Fleming has tasted the honey – talk to him! I know he would be delighted to tell you what the Lord is doing in Ireland. In the meantime, please keep our brothers and sisters overseas in your prayers. Our great God is doing something marvelous there.