Randal Baird
Hope Church will be celebrating 6 years this Sunday! Woohoo! It is amazing to look back and remember all the Lord has done through this church in such a short amount of time. We are believing that the seeds we have planted over the past years will begin to bear fruit. You can pray with us for the journey ahead. We know the plans the Lord has are good.
We are hosting 2 summer camps this summer. Our first camp starts Monday! These are great opportunities for us to connect with the community and meet new families. We have been busy preparing for these camps. Please pray for these connections. We have gone to the schools in our town and villages nearby with flyers. We have over 50 kids attending the first camp, and we are believing for our attendance in the second camp to be as strong. There are a few details still needing to be arranged. Thank you for joining with us in praying over each detail of these camps.
We will be inviting the campers from the first camp to a special "Summer Music & Kids Session" where their artwork will be displayed in a gallery. This is our first time organising an event like this in Ireland. We have some great musicians coming. This is another great opportunity to connect with our community. Will you pray over this opportunity? Our worship team will also be a part of the Music Session and we are praying this will be a time the Holy Spirit can move in the hearts of those attending. Will you pray with us?
The Youth Camp for Christian Churches of Ireland filled up before Hope Youth were able to register. So what does Randal and Kendra do... we remember one of the teams coming to help with the Kids Camp happens to be a Youth Group with Youth Pastors and Worship Leaders. Because we believe God has something for Hope Youth this summer, we asked the team coming if they would help us set up a Youth Camp at the same time we have a Kids Camp! Crazy, we know! They were happy to step in and are very excited to be a part.
Please pray for all of these youth coming and Hope Youth during this week. Pray now that our Youth will be able to attend during this week.
We have a few youth that are struggling to get the finances for this camp. The cost for one youth to attend is €95 (about $115.00). If you are able to sponsor or even assist a youth to attend this camp, click the bar below. Make sure you put "Youth Week" in the Comments section found in the Advanced Options so the funds can be designated.
We are believing this will be an impactful week for Hope Youth! We are believing lives will be changed!
Kendra was able to go to the States for Samuel's highschool graduation last week. Samuel has spent the last month in Springfield, MO working the MK (Missionary Kid) program. Some of you helped him get there and we are beyond grateful. He has had a wonderful time, and God has used this time to stretch him in many areas (see above). Thank you for praying for his next steps. He is still praying for what God has for him.
Travis also served MKs this summer in Croatia for a week. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures. He was with the youth during the week helping lead 12 year old boys. He was stretched as well, and had many stories to share after the week. We thank each of you that helped him be able to go and serve.
Caden recently received 2 certifications in Tree Surgery. He has been working hard learning the trade and has hopes to start a business. He has more certifications to go, but he is well on his way.
Katherine finished her first year of Secondary School. She is flying it as they say in Ireland. She also attended the youth week as one of the youth that Travis was a part of serving in. She took home some sweet moments with the Lord from the week in Croatia. She is excited about the camps here in Ennis and is praying some of her friends are able to attend the Youth Week.
Thanks for praying for our kids. It is a different walk for us having Young Adults. We thank you for praying over the boys and Katherine for God's purposes to be fulfilled in their lives.
Two final prayer points. If you remember, Candace Johnson was raising her funds to come and help us for 2 years with Kids Ministry and our after school Kids Club. She applied for her volunteer visa in March and received notice last week that is was denied. We have 6 weeks to appeal. Please pray for guidance as we collect more documents for this appeal. Pray for favour. It will be a huge blessing to have Candace here. Her funds are raised and she now just needs the Irish government to give her approval to arrive.
The second is to pray for Bella Sakwitz and her family. She was to come this summer to be an intern and help with the Kids Camps. Bella's father recently passed away, and our prayers and thoughts are with the family. She postponed her internship for now, but hopes to reschedule in the future. Please join us in praying for her and the family.
Thank you for taking the time to pray over each of these points. We are blessed to have you journey with us. Prayer matters and we are believing for the Lord to move on our behalf.
We also have to thank each of our financial partners. You are a part of how we are here, and we can't say thank you enough. You have a part in the seeds sown in the West of Ireland. We always give opportunity to become a monthly partner. You can click the bar below if the Lord is leading you to start that journey with us.
Check out what's happening...
We are excited to share that Randal returned to Ireland the very end of April! Praise God! This has been a blessing to our family and the church. If you have been following us, you know that we were on our Itineration over the past year. In order for us to return and stay on the mission field, we needed our budget to be 100%. We received the notice last week that our monthly budget was at 100%. We couldn't have made it without many of you! We are grateful for each of our prayer partners and financial partners. It was a joy to see so many friends, family and make new friends over the past year, but we are overjoyed for all of us to be back in Ireland!
Over the next few weeks, we have the opportunity to sow a multitude of seeds in Ennis and County Clare. We will share each opportunity below and how you can join with us in prayer. Please take a few minutes to read how you can pray. A BIG thanks to the Oklahoma AG Network for funding our BGMC project that will help provide the resources needed for this summer!
AGWM Account: 2835239 | W:agmd.org/u/thebairdjourney | To Give: s1.ag.org/bairdjourneygiving | T: 281-899-0128
