Countryside Ireland and Jesus

Last month I visited a small, non-denominational church in a village in West Cork. I volunteered to bring some books, CDs, and other items from the Haven so that, at their conference, this church could have a few resources available to them that they wouldn’t be able to get otherwise. It only took me about 40 minutes to drive to the village, however, in the mindset of an Irish person it might as well have taken me 3 hours! The church was so blessed that I would make the journey to bring resources to their small congregation. When traveling in rural Ireland you will drive in and out of small villages where the only presence of a church is an old, empty, stone building that has either been locked up for years or has been turned into a museum. It is hard to know how many people in these areas would have a relationship with Christ or even a solid understanding of who He is. Those who do have a relationship with Christ are small in numbers and scattered. Retreats, Conferences, or general fellowship opportunities with other Christians are few and far between. Unless you live in Dublin or Cork City there are limited resources to help personal and spiritual growth. Churches outside of these two cities are one of the two established churches; (Catholic or Anglican) if there does happen to be other denominations present, the churches are small. I am continually reminded of how often I have taken for granted how accessible Christ is to us as Americans. With a plethora of churches to choose from and access to Christian resources and materials in all different mediums such as books, radio, and television at our fingertips; isolation from Christianity is hard to understand.

-Beth Delaney