Dear friends,

Warmest greetings in the Lord’s name. It is always a blessing to have contact with the land of the Red Dragon. Quite apart from the fact that our sending church is Peniel Evangelical Church in Maesteg, Julia and I can never forget that our family is Welsh… Christiana, David and Hannah were all born in the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend. Thus it is no wonder that they are all so quiet, peaceful and content. As I come from N. Ireland and Julia from Germany, you can understand why we are a pretty confused bunch!

A bit of background

Just to fill you in a little on our situation in telegraph form; Julia and I met at Bible College in France and spent our first year of marriage teaching English (or at least something close to it!) in Kazakhstan in Central Asia. On returning to the UK, I wanted to continue my theological education and so ended up studying at WEST. On completing my studies I was taken on as a church worker in Peniel. It was after my time there that the Lord called us as a family to serve in Ireland under the auspices of UFM. So In March 2002 we left the green grass of Wales and set foot on the possibly even greener grass of the ‘Emerald isle’ as missionaries. It had been a long time in coming but we were full of excitement at the prospect before us of serving in one of UFM’s newest fields. The national group, which we were joining, was Calvary Mission headed by Paudge Mulvihill. As a child growing up in N.Ireland (which is not that long ago!) I can well remember the jokes which we used to tell about the Irish Republic, always considering them our poor and underdeveloped neighbours. However, in 2002, the tables had turned with the ‘Celtic tiger’ making its presence felt on the international scene with an economy which had changed the country out of all recognition within a couple of decades. Everywhere new roads, industries, and housing estates had sprung up.  Some analysts estimate that culturally, politically, and economically Ireland has changed more over the last forty years than any other country in Western Europe.

What goes up must come down

In what seemed to be an almost overnight transition the ‘Celtic tiger’ lay down, died and was promptly buried. The global recession fuelled by reckless building schemes (it is estimated that there are currently 170,000 surplus houses in the Republic), and a suicidal loaning spree by the banks has financially devastated the country. As I write unemployment is touching 13% with many more companies going bankrupt by the week.

Another disabling influence on Irish life has been the ongoing abuse scandals that have rocked the Catholic Church. The latest, and most horrific, has been the Murphy report. The Irish Government has just published the report into the handling of clerical child sex abuse in the Dublin Diocese. The 700 page report finds four Archbishops in Dublin did little or nothing to protect children from paedophile priests. In horrendous detail the Murphy report details 320 children’s allegations of rape, molestation and sexual assaults against a representative sample of forty-six priests between 1975 and 2004. The contents are shocking – it reveals that the police did not investigate child rape and says the goal of the church was to cover up.

Unsurprisingly the Irish religious landscape has changed dramatically. People may still live and die with all the trimmings of Catholicism but in real terms less than 20% will accept any kind of lead from the church. To put this statistic into perspective one needs to remember that up until the early 1980s the figure for faithful Mass attendance was 96%.

Where does all of this leave us today?

With a glorious opportunity to preach the gospel! This is a day which we must seize with both hands. People are walking away from old solutions in an effort to find real answers; surely now is the time to fill the emerging void with the life-transforming message of the gospel. Already many people are getting involved with cults and sects, which are entering the country in abundance. This is a day of almost unprecedented openness which we must milk to the full.

So how is Calvary Mission seeking to get the gospel out? In various ways; door-to-door ministry, schools’ work, special one-off evangelistic events, children’s clubs, one-to-one Bible studies and just about anything else that we can think off. Larry Dunne is our valiant one-armed door-to-door evangelist who likes nothing better than to be out on ‘the knocker’. Larry is in charge of the east Mayo area with a special emphasis on Claremorris where he is currently leading a weekly Bible study. At present the location for the studies is a large camper van parked up in one of the town’s car parks! We do pray that one day we will see Claremorris being blessed with its own church taking root.

The schools’ work has been very important to me. This is something that I started doing in Wales and have continued ever since. I can’t tell you what a thrill it is to present the truths of God’s word to such a captive audience! The programme which I have been using, since coming to Ireland, is Bible Explorer (produced by Walk Thru the Bible). Bible Explorer is a fast moving Bible survey which excels in child participation. To date I have taught the course seventy times to some 1,500 children. I do hope that these children will grow up with a love of God’s word rather than the distrust which their parents were brought up with. Please let me mention just one more item, our bookshop. It is called Good News 4 U and is situated in Westport. It is run by our dynamic duo Karen and Rhonda selling Christian books and other nick-nacks. Often it is very quiet but over the years many people, in crossing its threshold, have heard the gospel for the first time. The girls have built up a good relationship with many in the town, resulting in lives being touched with the power of the gospel.

Exciting times

Calvary Mission exists to see the Lord’s name being glorified through the planting of gospel churches which stand foursquare on God’s word. To that end it has pleased the Lord to establish one such church here in Westport. It is small but growing – last year we had six baptisms.

Yes, it is an exciting time to be here, no doubt the work is slow and hard but we do look to the Lord for a move of His Spirit as His word goes out continually. For a little more idea as to what Calvary Mission is all about please write to us for a free DVD which we produced last year. Also please consider receiving our short (I promise!) monthly email – I would be delighted to add you to our mailing list.

My brothers and sisters, thanks so much for your interest in what the Lord has called us to do. You are a great encouragement to us!

In Christ,

James and Julia McMaster

To receive the McMasterMail or DVD please email jmcmaster@eircom.net or write to James McMaster, 65 Sion Hill, Castlebar, Co Mayo, Ireland.