This week at the University has been RAG week. The intended purpose of RAG week was to rally students together and raise money for various causes/issues both locally and nationally. However, though they do raise money through often times creative means, it has mostly come to be known as “the party week”. This means that the majority of the students have been and will be drunk throughout the week and the weekend. On a good note,….many of the Christian students have been praying for bad weather to keep the students from coming out to the pubs & bars. And God has heard those prayers! It has been a miserable week concerning weather. BUT there has also been a lot less public display of drunkenness and vulgarity. Who’d of thought we’d thank God for gale-force winds and rain??

This Semester is off to a running start. This last week we began the SFC small group at our house and then again last night we met. We had 10 students last night with a student driving up from Cork just to be a part of what is happening. The picture shows one of the students trying to “hit the mark” as we kicked off our discussion about “What is Sin.” They attempted to get a few ping-pong balls into a plastic bowl. Only two were able to get anything to stay in. The game drove the point home that even our best attempts end up falling far short of mark and we all fall short of His glory. Only Christ’s blood can satisfy. Then last night we discussed what worship is, an event or a life style. They discussed so much last night that we have to have a part two!

“Drink-related deaths have doubled in 10 years”. That’s the headline of the newspaper a few days ago. And the picture next to it is of a group of University age young adults drinking at a club. According to the newspaper, “the most striking trends relate to the rapid rise in cases of often-fatal liver disease, admissions for which shot up by 140%.” It also goes on to say, “one in five of the under-30s admitted for alcohol-related reasons were suffering from liver disease. This is extremely worrying given that it takes a number of years of hazardous drinking to develop chronic conditions.” Wow! That is horrible, stinky news. But, you know, the truth is that God is amazingly bigger than all that. And He loves everyone of those young people!! That’s why we are here. We talk to students all the time and we hear the cry of their hearts….the lonliness, the depression, the stress, the hopelessness. Pray with us!! Pray for us!! GREAT NEWS….God IS doing something incredible in student’s hearts and lives. We are the witnesses and the tools.

Shout praises to God with us!! We are excited to tell you that we’ve started our first SFC Small Group! Woohoo! In April we had 4 different young ladies from the University approach us about mentoring and teaching them in their Christian walk. So, we asked them about meeting as a group and launched our first Small Group on the 25th of April! Though we only had a few weeks with them before the Semester was over, it was an amazing time and has without a doubt laid the foundation for this next Fall. Our short time with these students has also sparked interest and curiosity among other students. We can hardly wait to see what God will do! Please pray for Hannah, Inga, Annegret and EmilyKate. And for all the other students filling the University Campuses across Ireland!