Summer 2017 Newsletter

Our dear ministry partners,

We pray that this finds you and yours enjoying your summer!  We’ve had some lovely weather here in Ireland over the past few weeks, which has been a great treat after a lot of rain.  Even though I celebrated the big 7-0 on June 11, we “old folks” continue to stay very active and enjoy each day as it comes.  J  God is sooo good!

We returned home from our spring furlough and family reunion on May 14, and three days later a friend from California arrived.  Once he left on June 5, we began to feel like life was returning to “normal” once again.  (I know, “normal” is just a setting on your dryer, right?)   J

Cancer Surgery:  On May 12 I had surgery in Frederick, Maryland to remove a melanoma from my right interior ankle.  Since it resulted in a 2cm hole with no skin graft, it’s been slow to heal.  I change the surgical dressing daily, and after 10 weeks, it’s very close to forming a full scab.  I never cease to be amazed at the way that God created our bodies to heal!  Since melanoma is what took the life of my precious dad, my three brothers and I are vigilant and have all had skin cancers removed.  My middle brother, Tom, thankfully has clear scans after major battles with both lung and brain cancer.  We greatly appreciate your prayers!

Anna:  I had the joy of leading a lovely young Polish woman to the Lord last month, and she’s growing stronger in her faith daily!  She’s currently embroiled in a custody battle for her two children, Michael (12) and Grace (5), who attend the same school in Dublin that our grandson, Liam, attends.  She has been through so much trauma, and would greatly appreciate your prayers.

Prison Ministry:  As the discipleship process continues with prisoners, we’re often reminded that the real test comes once they’re released back into the real world.  Some are settling back into life on the outside successfully, and others are struggling.  There are a dozen guys for whom we’d especially appreciate your prayers:  John, Seamus, Jason, Liam, Simon, Fenton, Istfan, Abraham, Kevin, William, James and Patrick.  They face daily challenges that we can only pray to understand, but all of them desire to walk with God and succeed in their lives and families.

Ministry Highlights:

  • One of the wonderful things about the internet is that we can do ministry 24/7, and we do!  J Counseling, discipleship, evangelism, teaching, instructing, exhorting … you name it!
  • Tip was offered a full scholarship to Summer Fire, an annual Christian conference down in Cork.  He was greatly ministered to by gifted teachers, and had an amazing time making new friends and connecting with old.
  • One aspect of our church ministry is the weekly men’s ministry … teaching, prayer, testimonies, and encouragement.  Several of the guys are ex-addicts and ex-prisoners, which affords a lot of ministry opportunities.

Family:  Trinity and Eric’s baby (our 10th grand) is due in late September!  Since we have a dear friend who generously provides American Airlines buddy passes for us, we hope to return to the U.S. later this fall to welcome #10 in Dallas!  We also look forward to visiting our other branches on the family tree in Arizona, Florida and Maryland.  We hope to get our permanent Irish citizenship once we’ve completed the required five years in mid-September, so don’t have firm travel dates yet.  (Sadly our 12 years here in the 70’s-80’s don’t count, nor the fact that we had four children born in Ireland who have dual citizenship.)  Needless to say, we’d greatly appreciate your prayers!

Financial needs:  Our support level has gradually dropped over the five years since we returned to Ireland, and we find ourselves in dire need of additional monthly support.  Thankfully we have no debt, so it’s the basics of rent, food, utilities, fuel, and car tax.  It’s a very simple process to give online with the donate link on our website:  www.masterlife.org.  If you’d prefer to give by check, we have a friend who deposits them into our ministry account twice monthly:  Masterlife, Int’l, P.O. Box 4784, Lynchburg, VA  24502.  Either way, a tax deductible receipt will be emailed to you at the end of the year.  Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!!   

THANK YOU!  We are enormously thankful for your investment in our lives and ministries over the years, and are ever mindful that we wouldn’t be able to do what we do without you.  Thank you hardly seems adequate, yet we know that the Lord will reward you in ways that we never could!

With grateful hearts,

Tip ‘n’ Laurie