The
Republic of Ireland occupies five-sixths of the island of Ireland.
Its population is 3,883,000. In 1973 Ireland joined the European
Union, bringing economic prosperity and spiritual poverty. (Northern
Ireland remains a part of the United Kingdom). Since then attendance
at Mass in this Roman Catholic country has plummeted from 90% to
50%. In the meantime, evangelical churches have sprung up in almost
every city. Even so, Ireland has fewer evangelicals than any English
speaking country in the world. The Republic of Ireland is less than 8%
evangelized.
Todd and Celesta James (Todd
is second from the right below) joined EFM in 1998.
Todd and his
family lead a ministry called SportsLife, which seeks to help people
get the most out of both Sports and Life. They have planted a church
- Cairde Christian Fellowship (Cairde is “Friends” in Gaelic) in the
community of Ringsend, a suburb of Dublin - and are now in the process of planting another.
Kathi Perry (far right) joined the Todd and Celesta in 2001. She assists with the
youth in the church and is playing a key role in the second church
plant.
David & Tricia Howell
(on the far left with their children) will be joining the Ireland team
as soon as their support is raised.
(EFM Director
Chuck Mylander is in the center.)
(See 'Fields'
for information on other EFM mission fields. For more information on
Ireland and a larger map
click here.)
Evangelical Friends Mission