Greetings from Galway!
We hope you’re well. This month we had a horrible scare that God ended up speaking to us through in a pretty powerful way. Many of you know how much our pets mean to us. So, it was very stressful to find out our indoor cat Eowyn was missing late one Wednesday night. It was rainy and dark outside, so we thought she’d certainly be back on her own. When we couldn’t find her after an initial search, we left a window opened for her to return through. She didn’t show up. She’s extremely food driven, so with each hour that began to pass, my thoughts of positivity became imaginations of worst possible scenarios. Was she hit by a car? Did a fox get her? Is she on her way to another county?
The search began. Larena posted on local social media, we printed posters, we went door to door, and searched the surrounding fields. Thursday night at 2am Larena wakes me up with a text that says “deceased near railroad crossing.” I lost it. How could I let this happen? And what fear she must’ve been in during her last moments? But in the middle of my half awake seeping, suddenly a peace and a sense of duty came over me. I had to go look. So after driving out to examine the body, I found that it wasn’t even Eowyn! What an emotional roller coaster. But that wasn’t the end of it. Days began to go by. Each morning I was up early searching. Each evening I was out late driving around looking for activity. I used the shepherds staff a friend had given me years ago to poke and pull at the thick briars as I called for her. We were stressed and exhausted, but diligently continued the search.
The Lord began to do something. Walking through the field, calling and searching, with shepherd’s staff in hand, God spoke to my heart. “This is why I’m choosing you. In the same way you’re searching for Eowyn, you also won’t give up searching for my lost sheep, and I love them just like you love her.”
His speaking to us didn’t end there. Late one night as I was driving through a subdivision, I sensed God directing me to “look for the 33.” There was no 33 address on the houses, in fact it skipped the 30’s, so I was confused. As I was about to give up, there it was on the back of a car, the number 33. I pulled over and turned the car off. After several minutes of shaking a bowl of her food, I looked to my left at the exact moment a cat jumped up on a ledge. It wasn’t Eowyn, but this cat was identical to the cat we gave up when we followed God’s call to come to Ireland! It was a message from the Lord, a reminder that because we had given up one cat in obedience to Him, he wouldn’t let us lose Eowyn!
Hope was restored.
After 5 days of searching, I was out in the corner of a field about to go in for the night. Calling out her name, I finally heard a faint cry. Eowyn! Her voice was coming from deep in the crack between a giant boulder and a rock pile. She was down deep, but after some coaxing she finally came out! We had her safe and sound! Walking back home, the words “in the cleft of the rock” kept repeating in my head. I decided to look up the scripture. It’s from Exodus 33.
Topping everything off that He had already done, God used the entire chapter to confirm some important things he had been previously revealing to us about this upcoming season.
We’re so excited for what God has right around the corner. We anticipate an exciting new ministry season, a baby boy on the way, and all the challenges that will follow! With everything that’s been happening behind the scenes and some important details we hope to share in the next month, we’re looking forward to a tremendous leap forward into the plans and purposes God has for us here. I can say with full certainty, the best is yet to come!
We thank you so much for all of your love and support. It means the world to us! God bless. ~
The Johnstons
PRAYER
Prayer Requests:
We would be honored if you would pray with us concerning:
1. Please pray for the church
projects to be completed
well before the opening of
the church.
2. Please pray for the many
rela�onships we made
while searching for Eowyn
will blossom. We have had
numerous neighbors stop
by and connect with us
about her and we have the
joy to share we found her!
We want to be inten�onal
in these new rela�onships,
as we feel God is opening
doors for us to meet new
people for the new
ministry opportunity here
in Galway!
3. Please pray for all the
details to con�nue to fall
into place for the doors
God is opening for the BIG
ministry news coming soon!
Support Information
If you would like to team up & contribute to this
important mission, please make checks out to:
Hope Ireland Missions
229 W. Exchange St.
Crete, IL 60417
(Chris & Larena Johnston
on the memo line)
TO give online, simply go to:
www.hopeirelandmissions.com
& click on “partner.”
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