Greetings from Dublin, Ireland! Our team of twelve arrived Sunday morning in Dublin. Our first day was full of jet lag, laughter, church, fish and chips, meeting new people, seeing friends, jet lag, Logos Hope, and great memories!
Today (Monday) was our first full day of mission work. For these first three days of our trip, we are cleaning and renovating the flat of a man (“Doug” for our purposes) who is a recovering drug addict with some other health issues as well. He has recently professed faith in Jesus, although he is working through a lot of questions with his faith.
Early this morning before we got started at his apartment, we had a group prayer with all twelve of us, plus Doug and the missionary who arranged our service project. A few of us prayed aloud while standing in a circle of clasped hands. Before we finished, Doug started praying aloud. It may have been the first time he has ever prayed aloud; I am not sure. During his prayer, Doug said that he did not just want a clean house; he told God that he wants a clean heart and a clean life, too. His honesty blew me away.
We worked really, really hard today. The cleaning required was very intense. 
Doug kept saying that he was not worthy of us coming to help him. It really made me reflect on how unworthy I am of God’s love and forgiveness. None of us are worthy. That is what makes the gift of grace so special.
Doug was so grateful for our help today. We were grateful to share God’s love with him through acts of service. And I learned that I need to be more grateful for God’s love because I am so undeserving.
The more we reflect on how completely undeserved the grace we’ve received is, the more it makes us want to serve in such selfless ways…..simply because we’re so overflowing with gratitude. Thanks for reminding me of how incredible our Savior’s grace is and inspiring me through your acts of service.
Ally, thanks for faithfully reading and commenting on my posts! It is so encouraging. I cannot wait to see what God does on your trip as well.
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hi
i was excited to find your article when i decided it was time to start dreaming big again and typed extreme makeover home edition ireland into google and found your site! is this something that is ongoing or was it a one off? i would love to find out more about this sort of volunteering work.