March Howells Updates

Dear Friends, 

Over the last week or two, we’ve had the opportunity to chat with people from a wide variety of nationalities. They come from Middle Eastern heritage, Irish heritage, Eastern European heritage, and Asian heritage. Catholics, Hindus, Muslims, agnostics, protestants, and evangelicals. What a blessing to talk through life’s great questions with them all. Conversations about life, faith, hardships, and joys. Yet one thing that I still am amazed at is the struggle these friends have with how the faith that I represent with being a follower of Jesus is so vastly different from the way that Christianity has been represented in their lives in the past. This is in no way to say that I have it down perfectly, but it is different.

When we share with people what we do in Ireland (looking for the hurting, the broken, the lost, those who have fallen through the cracks and try to fill those gaps spiritually, mentally, physically, and emotionally), there’s a general sense of “Oh that’s so kind, or that’s so good. That’s the way we all should be living. We all should treat one another with love, dignity, and respect.”

When we first arrived, we spent a lot of time watching and listening and learning about the needs of these dear ones we have been sent to serve. One of the key goals and purposes that came about in this time is as vital today as it was in the beginning: simply living a life that is trying to be an example of what a true follower of Jesus might look like. Loving one another, meeting the needs of each other, sharing hope and joy with one another, and being the hands and feet of Jesus. 

I had the image recently of a stray dog on the side of the road who had been abused and left behind. It was hungry, hurting, and scared. Yet when someone came along to help, it was so broken that it was not capable of distinguishing between the hand of healing and the hand of hurt. It took a loving soul sitting next to them in stillness and peace while they barked and evaded and snapped until they were able to see the truth. This is an image of so many of our friends.

The life of Christ was often a living example of that image. He would find those who are marginalized, who are beaten down, who are hurting, and he would invite them to follow him. He would speak hope and joy of a better way. They didn’t have to continue to live a life that caused them pain and sorrow. 

In Ireland today, we live and have our thousand cups of coffee in restaurants and coffee shops, go on hikes in the mountains, take walks along the beach, or even on film sets, simply trying to imitate the love and life of Jesus. Many who we connect with have never experienced it in the first place or are unfamiliar with what it is supposed to look like. Being this example of a disciple of Jesus, flaws and all, is attractive and draws people to the gospel.

One friend recently asked me if the Bible can still be relevant in today’s culture. As we talked, I asked how the Bible had been used in his experience. It probably doesn’t surprise us that in his life, it was weaponized to fulfill a certain agenda. When I shared another way to look at it, the way the words of truth bring life, it caused a moment of reflection. Is there more than I thought I knew? 

I love sharing with our friends about a loving Father who sees our ugliness and flaws, who sees our pain and yet still sees the beauty in us. As our Quaker tradition states, “There is that of God in everyone.” What a blessing to be part of this ministry here in Ireland. And for you to be putting that into action in your own communities is amazing. What a blessing you are.

Thank you for your love and partnership with us. We are blessed to be part of such an amazing community. We love you all. Grace and Peace.

Grace and Peace

David and Tricia