Yesterday we arrived back from the GEM Annual Conference, very ready to get settled in to life in Ireland. (Click here for pics of our time in Hungary and Austria.)
At the conference, it became quite clear that while the leadership and members of the organization have been straining to get onto the same page regarding it's mission and focus, they have clearly not been on the same page regarding it's ecclesiological foundation. In some ways it feels like the same ol' traditional mistake of parachurch organizations - "it's all about evangelism and the local church is merely one way of many ways to do it." This is a problem when many of us in the organization are saying, "It's all about the forming of disciples and the church is the mission." In this way, I think GEM is a microcosm of the issues facing the North American church. Much more on this later. But for now, it's time to find a home in Dublin.
Phil Kingsley (our friend and supervisor here) really wants us to find a place that is close to a train line for easy access into Dublin town centre, but also close enough to the M50 (orbital motorway around Dublin) to have easy access to other colleagues. So we're thinking that Rathfarnham or Dundrum are going to have to be it. We've found several places online in Rathfarnham that are within our budget and have 3 bedrooms.
On the car side of things, I'm just waiting to get some proof of insurance from the UK company that I was using when I lived there. We'll probably try to get a 2 or 3 year old Opel Astra (pretty much the same car I had in England) or a Volkswagen Passat or Jetta. If it takes too long to actually get the proof of insurance from England, we may need to look into renting a car for a few days.
Once we get all of that in order, we're really looking forward to learning Irish culture and even doing some traveling around the island.
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About Me
- Brandon
- I'm Brandon, husband of Kristy, father of Caitlyn, coffee freak, music fan, and hypocritical film buff. Originally from Washington State, now living in South Dublin. This blog will be a place to write about various facets of Irish culture that I experience and learn about.
2 comments:
Heard you guys were looking at yet another house tonight. Fun stuff. Not sure if you've made any decisions on automobiles yet but let me put in my word for Skoda. I'd be happy to introduce you to Peter Woods at the dealership if Rod's still recovering from jet lag. Also, thought you might like to know about the site Smugmug. They kinda do what it sounds like you're trying to do for Irish artists (albeit you're shooting for something much more local). Essentially, photographers get to set up "storefronts" on the site and people like you and me get to browse the pics at our leisure and purchase prints we like. Might be fun to look through it for some ideas. Praying for you both as you settle in. The Covells have my number if you need anything.
Hey there, Matt. Do I need to apologize for getting an Opel? =)
Thanks for the artist link. I'll be sure to look into it.
And we'll let you know if we look at some properties in your neck of the woods. There are a few possibilities in Monkstown.
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