Simon: ‘In 2011 we packed up our life in the North of Ireland and moved to the Czech Republic to work at the Immanuel Conference Centre, a Youth for Christ facility located in the beautiful Czech Highlands. Deemed the most atheistic country on the planet, post Catholic and struggling with family breakdown and alcohol abuse, it was very clear to us that the Lord was calling us to be light in dark places. So, with our two boys Joshua and Reuben, Hannah and myself began a new adventure in the Czech Republic.
Towards the end of our first year a ministry called ‘Hand of Hope – Orphans Matter’, was birthed, after hearing the plight of the orphans in Czech, where currently 22,000 kids find themselves in care. The project has grown from working with 1 orphanage in 2011 to 18 orphanages today. We can leave the Czech Republic this summer with the assurance that the ministry is sustainable and with God’s help, will continue to flourish.
Last year at a conference we read a sign that said, ‘Ireland is the most atheistic English speaking nation in the world’. It caught our attention and so we began to pray. As we’ve pushed the door in Ireland the Lord has lined everything up for us to return and we feel that the Czech Republic has been our training ground. We’re excited to see what the Lord will do amongst the young people in Ireland in the years to come!’
Simon & Hannah, Johsua, Reuben and Grace.