Christmas Break!

Well guys here it is, last stretch for this part of the year, in 5 days i will be home with my family and back in the United States! I am very excited and really looking forward to all the fun I will have back home over Christmas break but I am honestly looking forward to coming back too and all the ministry we have planned in the spring! I love my team, and am really enjoying all the growth and challenges that God is facing me with. I will have a better post in a few days  about the last few weeks and my flight home but I wanted to let you know how appreciative I am of the support and help you are all giving in prayers and those that did support me financially this year. I was asked to write a entry for the Christmas Newsletter that NET Ireland is doing this year and I wanted to share it with all of you, in case you don't get a copy of the Newsletter. So enjoy and be waiting for a true update in a few days!

Christmas Newsletter:

                Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  I hope all of you will be enjoying the Advent season and preparing yourselves for Christmas. I am really enjoying the work my team is doing and the awesome experiences we have had this far. I have been very busy and had a lot of fun, or as the Irish would say I have had some mighty craic. Team life is an amazing experience; we are five random individuals that come together to form a team that is given the mission to be witnesses of God’s message and love. We have had some great adventures this far; one of those was when we went to the ruins of Fore Abbey. Fore Abbey is an ancient Benedictine monastery founded in the 11^th century. We spent an afternoon exploring, taking pictures, and climbing on the ruins. We really just soaked in the views and environment that is Ireland. I have grown so much this year and can just see more and more chances for me to grow and for me to be shaped into, as Matthew Kelly says, “the best version of myself”. On NET we also commit to giving an hour of our day to personal prayer. This time has been very good for me and helped me develop my relationship with Jesus. Scripture has been a huge part of that growth; lately I have been reading Sirach which is full of wisdom and advice. This particular verse has stuck in my mind since I have read it; “Accept whatever happens to you. Even if you suffer humiliation, be patient. Gold is tested by fire, and human character is tested in the furnace of humiliation. Trust the Lord, and he will help you. Walk straight in his ways, and put your hope in him” Sirach 2: 4-6.

 Since being on NET I have learned a lot and seen God’s work in so many hearts; my favorite experience this far is when a man stopped by our house and talked with us for over an hour about faith and his life experiences. He was raised Catholic, but because of hardships in his family he fell away from faith, and ran away from home. He suffered many hardships but now is developing a relationship with Jesus, and wants to learn to read so he can read the Bible, and wants to go to school to be a counselor to help people like he was helped. I was so touched by his story and his courage to come into our house and share all this with us. He told us that when we waved at him a few days before he knew we were doing something good, and wanted to see what we were on about. It was a very powerful afternoon.

Hope you all are enjoying this Christmas season.

May the road rise up to meet you! God bless, you are all in my prayers!

Benjamin Record

 

This is a picture of my team jumping on one of the many hills at the Hill of Tara. On the left side is Amy, Me, Tim, Rebecca, and Marie. We had a lot of fun that day.