Molly Morton | Preparándose para servir en Irlanda

De repente, hoy miré el calendario y me di cuenta de que solo me quedan unas semanas de permiso. Parece que el tiempo ha volado, aunque al mismo tiempo siento que febrero y el comienzo de mi permiso fueron hace un millón de años.

Dios me ha sido misericordioso durante los últimos cinco meses, ya que he viajado, me he conectado con compañeros, he pasado tanto tiempo con mi familia, he visitado diferentes iglesias, he descansado bien, he conocido gente nueva, me he reencontrado con viejos amigos y he llorado la inesperada pérdida de mi padre. Estoy muy agradecida con la comunidad de EFM por su apoyo durante mi estancia en Estados Unidos. No puedo imaginarme hacer esto sin ese apoyo. Mientras me preparo para regresar a Irlanda a finales de este mes, recuerdo algunas cosas emocionantes que sucedieron en julio.

Mi mejor amiga, Becky, también trabaja en el ámbito intercultural. Tuvimos la suerte de estar en California al mismo tiempo este mes. Pasamos unos días juntos poniéndonos al día, comprando y comiendo. También tuvimos el placer de encontrarnos con una amiga de la infancia, Katherine. Conocimos a sus tres hijos y compartimos una comida. Hemos estado presentes en nuestras vidas desde la preescolar. Fue un tiempo encantador para recordar y aprender sobre nuestras vidas actuales.

Durante los últimos meses, he estado visitando iglesias en mi calidad oficial de misionero en licencia. Estoy sumamente agradecido por la forma en que cada una de estas iglesias colabora conmigo en oración y financieramente. Es maravilloso ver cada comunidad de adoración única y compartir con ellos sobre mi trabajo en Irlanda con la Iglesia del Nazareno. Un momento culminante de estas visitas a las iglesias fue visitar a la Clase Discover en la Iglesia de los Amigos de Rose Drive. Muchos de los hombres y mujeres de esa clase nos enseñaron a mí y a mis hermanos en la escuela dominical cuando éramos niños en la Iglesia de los Amigos de Rose Drive (RDFC). Fue grandioso ver a estos fieles colaboradores y compartir con ellos.

Al finalizar mi permiso y mi comisión, quiero agradecerles de todo corazón a todos y cada uno de ustedes por su apoyo.Las oraciones y el apoyo económico que recibo de cada uno de ustedes son vitales e importantes para mi trabajo en Irlanda. Muchísimas gracias.

Con todo mi cariño y gratitud,
Molly Morton

Alabanza:

• Estoy muy agradecida por los últimos seis meses en Estados Unidos y por el apoyo y las oraciones que he recibido de toda la familia EFM. He pasado un tiempo maravilloso reencontrándome con amigos y familiares.

Peticiones de oración:

• Oren por mi regreso a Irlanda la semana que viene. Oren por la nostalgia por extranar mi hogar y el duelo. Oren por un buen descanso y por reconectarme con mis amigos irlandeses.
• Oremos por nuestra iglesia en Greystones al comenzar el otoño con la reanudación de muchos programas. Oremos por discernimiento y por la imaginación de Dios.
• Oren por mi familia y por mí mientras continuamos lamentando la pérdida de mi padre, especialmente ahora que regreso a Irlanda y ya no estaré físicamente cerca de ellos.

The post Carta de Oración septiembre 2025 first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

Molly Morton | Preparing to Serve in Ireland

Suddenly, I looked at the calendar today and realized there are only a few weeks left in my furlough. It seems like time has flown by, while at the same time it feels like February and the beginning of my furlough were a million years ago. God has been gracious to me during the last five months as I have traveled, connected with partners, spent so much time with my family, visited different churches, rested well, met new people, reconnected with old friends, and grieved the unexpected loss of my father. I have so much gratitude for the EFM community of support while I have been in the U.S. I cannot imagine doing this without that support.

As I get ready to return to Ireland at the end of this month, I look back at a few exciting things that happened in July. My best friend, Becky, is also a cross-cultural worker. We had the blessing of being in California at the same time this month. We spent a few days together catching up, shopping, and eating. We also had the pleasure of meeting up with one of our childhood friends, Katherine. We got to meet her three boys and share a meal together. We have been in each other’s lives since preschool. It was a lovely time of reminiscing and learning about each other’s current lives.

Over the last couple of months, I have been visiting churches in my official capacity as a furloughed missionary. I am beyond thankful for the ways each of these churches partners with me prayerfully and financially. It is lovely to see each unique worshiping community and to share with them about my work in Ireland with the Nazarene church. One highlight of these church visits was visiting the Discover’s Class at Rose Drive Friends Church. Many of the men and women in that class taught Sunday school to me and my siblings as children at Rose Drive Friends Church (RDFC). It was so great to see these faithful co-laborers and to share with them.

As my furlough and deputation come to an end, I want to thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart for your support. The prayer and financial support I receive from each of you is vital and important to my work in Ireland. Thank you so much.

All my love and gratitude,

Molly Morton

The post September 2025 Prayer Letter first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

Dear Prayer Partners,

This afternoon, I am writing to you from a surprisingly snowy Ireland. Snow doesn’t come down very often here, so it was a shocking surprise to wake up to this morning.

Speaking of surprises, my siblings and I pulled off a rather good one for Christmas. I snuck home to California for Christmas on Christmas Eve eve. My niece, nephews, and dad had no idea I was coming. Julia my niece was so shocked at my arrival in her living room that she accidently wacked her brother Ethan in the face when we group hugged.

I can’t tell you how lovely and deliciously ordinary it was to be with my family in person for the holidays. We jam-packed tea parties, family photos, my sister Amy’s 40th birthday, and ordinary everyday stuff into 13 days. It was just what I needed for Christmas. Please pray for the homesickness that sets in after I come back from California.

When I arrived back home to Ireland, it was right back into the thick of church life and ministry. We started up all of our home groups and kids’ ministry after the holidays. It was so fun to have everything back up and running. I’ve begun meeting with an older lady in our church who needs some help with everyday errands and grocery shopping. She is full of personality but is in the early stages of memory loss. I am so honored to spend time with her and listen to her stories as we wander around town. Please pray for my time with this woman and the time I spend with my church family to be centered on the Holy Spirit.

My co-pastors, Luke and Tim and I traveled to Glasgow, Scotland at the beginning of February to participate in a Nazarene Pastoral Prayer Retreat. We had a wonderful time together as colleagues and friends as well as getting to know other pastors in our region. Our speaker talked about margin and rest which really resonated with me as an administrator and a pastor. Please pray for my willingness and ability to create margin and rest as a part of my daily life.

Last weekend, I was honored and humbled to be asked to speak at a camp for Mothers and Daughters hosted by Scripture Union. I was able to speak to the moms on Saturday evening about prayer and offer unique styles of prayer to these mothers. We ended up having a really vulnerable and open conversation about the difficulties of parenting and the necessity for community. Please pray for these moms as they go back to their ordinary lives and search for community with other moms.

At the beginning of this week, our church received planning permission approval from the local county council to begin rebuilding and renovating our existing church building into one that will serve and grow our church and community in the future. My co-pastors, church board, and many other helpers along the way have worked hard on this application and waited patiently for approval. We are excited to see what the Lord has for us as we begin to build. Please pray for this project that we pursue amid an already growing congregation and church family. Please pray for the fundraising process, that God would be in the details of that process.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your consistent and intentional prayers and support of my ministry in Greystones, Ireland.

All my love and prayers,

Molly

The post Molly Morton March 2024 Ministry Update first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

In 2019, I visited Ireland and more specifically Greystones with the purpose of finding a partnering charity. To make a long story short, the Church of the Nazarene Greystones agreed to be my partnering charity for my Minister of Religion visa. Currently, I live and serve in Greystones, Ireland. This town was not on my radar at all in 2018, only as the town my teammate Kathi lived in. She had suggested asking the church she attended. But now I live here. Now I am blessed to serve a rapidly growing and diversifying church family at “the Naz” as it is locally known.

As I thought about how different the reality of my life in Ireland is to the one, I imagined, I was struck by the creativity of our Heavenly Father. I would have never imagined that I would live in County Wicklow because all my connections were further north in County Louth. I would have never imagined that I would be in a pastoral position in a church.  But now I serve as the administrative pastor at the Naz. But God knew. He had it planned this way all along. I am so incredibly blessed to serve in this community. The one God designed for me.

Some of the ways I’ve been able to serve in this community in the last few months have been so fun. In August, I was privileged to accompany residents from Peace Haven, a local charity that provides housing and support for adults with intellectual disabilities, on their vacation to Orlando, Florida. All three residents, Rachel, Beverley, and Clara attend our church. We got to go to all the Disney parks, ride a fan boat in the Everglades, visit Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade Village, and swim with dolphins. It was so much fun to help provide a safe and relaxing holiday for these ladies. It also was really nice to be within driving distance of a Target for two weeks!

Right before Florida, a team from my home church of Gateway Friends in Diamond Bar, California came to Greystones to help us provide a craft and cookery camp for over 50 children. I loved having some of my favorite people from Gateway here with me in Ireland. It was immensely gratifying to be able to show them our ministry here. They loved meeting all the people I’ve been talking about and getting to serve our church family.

We as a church family are looking forward to the Advent season as we journey towards Christmas morning and the gift of the Son of God. We have lots of plans to engage our community. We are excited to host a carol service, men’s and women’s dinners, ecumenical gatherings, and children’s programs.

Thank you so much for your intentional and generous prayer and support of what God is doing in and through my ministry in Greystones, Ireland with the Church of the Nazarene. I am so grateful that those visa regulations were changed all those years ago.

All my love and prayers,

Molly Morton

The post Molly Morton November 2023 Ministry Update first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

Molly Morton | Serving in Ireland

  Each day at lunch I try to open my Lectio 365 app and listen to the Scripture and thoughts offered there. I call it Lectio Lunch. Today the Scripture was Matthew 15:32-36, a shorter description of Jesus feeding the five thousand. At one point in the story, Jesus asked his disciples, “How many loaves do you have?” It struck me that Jesus was not only asking a practical question but also a relational one. He is asking, what do you have, what are your gifts, what are your skills, what do you bring to the table? Jesus asks because he wants to know what he’s working with, but I think he also asks because he wants the disciples and the thousands that have been following to act outside of their known capacities, to go outside their comfort zone.

In the last few weeks, God has been making evident to me that one of the loaves I have is presence. I work on a church staff with two married men who each have three children under the age of ten. I am not married, I do not have children, but I do have time and space to be present. As I’ve learned over the last few years, presence can be all I bring to the table. I don’t have to bring skills, gifts, and talents, even though I do have those, many times what a situation needs is presence. As an introvert and a chronic helper, just being with someone can seem like not enough to me. But I’ve realized that I get to be present. I have the time, the space, and the margin to be present in a way that my colleagues can’t be due to their own family obligations.

One of my favorite ways to do this is to host people in my home. I was blessed with my home in the center of Greystones, in a bustling neighborhood and within walking distance of the church. I have been making it a point to have more people in my home for dinner, coffee, etc. Yesterday morning, I hosted my Thursday morning Bible study ladies and their kids (see the photo above). We drank good coffee, ate good pastries, chatted, laughed, planned trips, prayed for each other, and were generally present for each other. It lasted for four hours! It was a dream for me. When I first viewed this home, this is what I envisioned. As some of you know, I have been praying specifically for friendships with other women, close and deep friendships. The women in this group are beginning to give me the answer to that prayer.

Thank you for praying with me and for my ministry here in Ireland.

Molly

Download this month’s prayer letter here…

The post August 2023 Prayer Letter first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

A weird thing happened when I was talking about this trip. I had hesitation to say I was going “home” to California. I wasn’t sure California felt like home but I’m not sure Greystones felt like home yet either. The things I described above are not physical places except for Target . I miss people, my most beloved people and they happen to be in California. But I missed Greystones too. I missed my Nazarene church family dearly. I missed big hugs from Bev on Sunday morning, squeezing the cheeks of Riadh and Eagen as they grow before our very eyes, I missed dinner with the Stephens and Sunday school with our older kids. Home has always been people to me, not a place.

The week before I left for California, I preached about comfort and prayer. Home is a place of comfort as well, where people are warm, welcoming, and safe. Greystones has been all three of those things. God, the Father has always been a place of safety and home for me as well. Wherever he is, especially when it’s his body of believers, I feel at home. I was blessed to visit two church families while I was in California and each of them is home. Church of the Nazarene Greystones is home too.

Spending time with my Gateway Friends Small Group

Celebrating my birthday with my family in Calfirnia!

What I’ve Been Reading:

Beth Moore’s memoir: All My Knotted-Up Life

Mama Beth, as one of my favorite podcasters, calls her, is characteristically open and vulnerable while describing honestly her childhood and rise to notoriety. Highly recommend.

What I’ve Been Watching:

The Chosen

My Thursday morning Bible study ladies decided to start watching this incredibly well-done series together and discussing the Scripture each episode is based on. As a student of film, I am routinely skeptical of Christian media, but I assure this series is compelling and well-executed.

What I’ve Been Listening to:

Brandi Carlisle’s entire discography.

A dear friend played Carlisle’s The Story as her first dance song at her wedding over a decade ago. I rediscovered her catalog a few months ago. The Joke, Right On Time, and The Mother are some of my favorite tracks.

Thank you so much for holding me and my ministry up in prayer each month.

Praise:

• A most excellent vacation in California, with uneventful travel and almost constant time with my family.
• A few ladies stayed in my house while I was away and I’m grateful for their care of my home.

Requests:

• Inevitable homesickness as I came back to Greystones after having all access to my family for three weeks.
• The driver’s license journey continues, please pray for endurance, and focus as I take driver’s lessons and tests.
• Our upcoming Holy Week events at the Naz, that God would be glorified.
• Our continuing efforts to build a youth program.

All my love and prayers,

Molly

The post Molly Morton’s April 2023 Update first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

Happy New Year from Ireland!

I can’t believe it’s been over four months since I last wrote. As I ended 2022 here in Ireland, I reflected on the new opportunities given to me and the unexpected blessings. I am happy to have an amazing church family at Church of the Nazarene Greystones. I am happy to have colleagues whom I call friends that I work with each day. I am happy to have a warm and safe home to retreat to each day. I am happy to have each of you coming alongside me in prayer and other generous offerings. Here are some fun new things that happened in the last few months.

Since I arrived in Ireland, I have been working from my attic office in my house. After we moved our rapidly growing children’s ministry into some bigger portable classrooms, I was able to move into the old nursery room. All three of us on staff, Luke, Tim, and I, are working in the same building now! A big part of my job as administrative pastor is facility management and it was getting harder to manage that facility from my attic. Also, it is so nice for all three of us to be together in the building each day as we lead the church body.

At the beginning of September, I traveled up north to Dundalk, finally! A student from one of my APU short-term teams was visiting Ireland and made a stop in Dundalk to visit the church we worked with. I got to go up for the weekend and reconnect with old friends in Dundalk. We had a group of Michiganders come from Luke’s home church to bless us in early October. They helped us move into those portable classrooms by building an enormous amount of Ikea furniture for us. It was so fun to have Americans here, it made me miss all of my own Americans. My first non-family visitors, Cathy and Aaron Yue, came at the end of September. We have been blessed to have some new community groups using our building beginning in the fall. It’s a blast to share our resources with the community. Part of my ministry is facilitating these outside groups and it is a pleasure to welcome all different kinds of groups into our home.

Dani, Molly, Grace, and Lorraine in Dundalk

Molly and Cathy Yue at the Ivy in Dublin

Molly and a dozen Michiganders in Dublin

At the beginning of December, I was able to travel to Thailand for the EFM Worldwide Missionary Gathering. It was such a nice respite from Ireland for a little while. I had the best time getting to know other global workers that I only ever read about in prayer updates. It was especially sweet to catch up with Elise Paty, another single female worker who is now a part of the EFM family. Returning home, saw me finally getting COVID-19. I had to sit out most of the Naz’s Christmas festivities, but I was well enough and testing negative to be with my church family on Christmas. On January 1, I had the blessing of preaching for my church body again about something both EFM and myself are enthusiastic about: the specific equipping and gifting of each believer.

As I look forward to my second year in Ireland, I look back at a year that God was so present in my life and the life of those we serve here in Greystone. God has richly blessed me. God has also taught me about the beauty of his grace which is a lesson this closet perfectionist could be learning for the rest of her life. As I look forward, I am blessed by the provision of God and his people that support my ministry here in Greystone through prayer and generous giving.

All my love and prayers,

Molly

Elise Paty, Chelsea Carpenter, and Molly in Thailand

Molly’s Christmas tree!

Praises:

• I am really happy with how my sermon went last Sunday. I am looking forward to preaching more often.
• Thailand was amazing and such a blessing. Thank you to EFM for the provision and facilitation of that trip.
• My lease was renewed without question, so I get to stay in my house where I have made a genuinely nice home for myself.
• I was welcomed into the family of the Stephens for Christmas, and it was an absolute treat! Chatting with my family that evening was wonderful as well.

Requests:

• I have put myself on the preaching calendar more often, please pray that preaching and sermon prep get less stressful the more I get to do it.
• We are starting a new book study in our small groups next week called “How to Pray” by Pete Greig. Pray for openness and good discussion in those three small groups.
• I have begun the process of getting an Irish Driving License, please pray for the logistics and favor with the government and my memory of proper driving from 23 years ago to return.

The post Molly Morton’s January 2023 Update first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

Last weekend, I preached my first sermon in the Church of the Nazarene here in Greystones and it went really well. I looked back at my last update and remembered how nervous and scared I was to preach and then I realized that I had none of those emotions last Sunday. It was none of my own doing, God worked through me. Also, I had prepared for close to six weeks to preach for a little less than twenty minutes, so there was that too. But mostly divinely given calm and confidence.

As I prepared and gave my sermon last week, I learned a few things that I wanted to share with you. First of all, you need to repeat words and phrases a great deal more in preaching than in writing. It was some of the first notes I got when I started asking for feedback on my manuscript. In writing, repeating yourself is frowned upon and seen as redundant. But in preaching, repeating is encouraged and required in order for your audience to literally get the point. It made me think that good and truthful information and feedback bears repeating, no matter how many times it’s already been said.

Secondly, I talk really fast when I get up on a stage and am given a microphone. Mostly this happens because I stop breathing. In my sermon manuscript, I literally wrote notes to myself reminding me to breath. I wrote notes in my manuscript reminding myself to look up at my audience, at my church family. If I hadn’t looked up, I would have missed a new friend proudly watching me with tears rolling down her cheeks. Most of the time in my life, there is a moment where I need to look up and take a deep breath.

Lastly, I realized that I might not ever know how this sermon spoke to people in that room last Sunday. I might not ever know what seeds were planted that morning. But God does and that’s okay.

If you’d like to watch my sermon, there is a link in this email. Please enjoy it.

I’m Reading…

• Preaching in Pictures: Using Images for Sermon that Connect- Peter Jonker
  This was the most helpful book I read during my sermon prep. It gave me a structure for my manuscript and helped me find where to put the “run and jump” story.

I’m Watching…

• One of my favorite podcasts deep dived the pilot of ER, which made me want to re-watch it. It still holds up, such a good show.

I’m Listening To:

• Dermot Kennedy: Sonder

Praises:

• The Naz held our Cookery and Craft camp last week and it was a huge success. We had a packed hall each and every day. Some of those families came to church on Sunday. It was a wonderful picture of the kingdom working together to hold presence and show love to our community.
• From what I’ve heard so far, preaching went really well on Sunday. Thank you to all of you that were praying.
• We partnered with the local Youth Life group to offer a Youth Drop In on Friday evenings in August to fill the gap between summer camps and the beginning of fall programming. It is going well and well attended.

Requests:

• Please pray for how we might move forward with the momentum we have from the Youth Drop In. We have a handful of teenagers and young adults at the Naz that we would like to be serving better.
• My oldest nephew, Dominic leaves for college at Grand Canyon University next week. Please pray for my brother, Mark and his family as they experience this huge milestone and also miss him very much. Please pray for me as I observe and experience this milestone from afar.
• The Naz will be hosting a team from the States at the beginning of October. Please pray for the logistics, details and communication that need to fall into place.

The post Molly Morton August Update first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

Dear Prayer Partners,

Over the past month, I’ve had many people in my house from my family to youth workers. When I signed the lease on my house, I was nervous that it was too much house for me. As I began to make this house a home with cozy touches, plants in the garden and seasonal decorations, I felt God saying that this home will be used for my glory. The rooms will be filled, if only temporarily, as a blessing to the kingdom. I am happy to say that it is starting to happen.

My brother, Mark, and his family visited a few weeks ago and the house was full to the brim with the people I love the most in this world. It was such a joy to show my family Ireland for the first time. We did not “have the weather,” as they say but that made it a much more authentic Irish experience. I am so happy that they have a context for my life here and the people I do ministry and life alongside.

Two weeks ago, I welcomed three young women into my home as they lead groups of children for Scripture Union’s Annual CSSM (Children’s Special Service Mission) Youth Camp. It’s been a really great experience to have the house full again with young women building the kingdom locally here in Greystones.

A few weeks ago, my colleague preached on God’s table. He told us that God’s table has, and always will be, bigger than our own. He challenged us to find out who is missing from our table, individually and as a congregation. We have big plans here at the Naz about how to make our building and our property more inviting and accessible to the biggest “table” we can make. God is showing me how big I can make the table, my house, that he has given me here in Greystones. Will you pray with me to keep my eyes open to those individuals and groups that are missing at my table and the Naz’s table?

	I’m Watching…  New Stranger Things Season 4 Vol 2: I got to watch the first episode with my nephew Ethan while he was here because we’re both obsessed. I’m Reading… Lots of preaching books and commentaries on Galatians and Luke. I am preaching about the fruit of the Spirit of goodness on August 21. I will be preaching for the first time at the Naz. Please pray with me.
	I’m Listening To: RTE Radio: I try to put this on in the morning when I’m getting breakfast ready to listen to the local and national news of Ireland.

Praises:

• My family and I had a fantastic time together at the end of last month when they visited for a week. I am so grateful that they have context for my life here now.
• We have a fully booked Craft and Cookery Camp for August. The camp is a time honored tradition here at the Naz and to see so much interest after taking a few years off is very encouraging.
• My rhythms and “work/life” balance are becoming steadier and I feel like my productivity is increasing.

Requests:

• As referred to above, I am preaching in a month and I’m very nervous about it. Praise for colleagues that are encouraging and resourceful about helping me build this sermon. I am grateful but still nervous. Please pray for focus and energy as I write the sermon. Please pray for stamina and slow, clear speaking on the day, I tend to talk very fast when I’m nervous!
• My colleague is in the Unite States right now raising support. Please pray for him and his family as they are travelling, and that God would make divine appointments. My other colleague is travelling to Poland next week for his work with Nazarene Compassionate Ministries, please pray for safety and health during his travels.
• I am trying to build a practice of presence, which requires more time sitting listening to God than talking at Him. Pray for this process that it would be good and right and fruitful.

The post Molly Morton July Ministry Update first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.

Dear Prayer Partners,

Two weeks ago, I turned 40. It’s a big milestone birthday, unfortunately everyone I could celebrate with here in Ireland seemed to be quarantined for COVID-19 close contact or isolating to ensure safety for travel. It’s a strange thing to celebrate a big birthday in a new town and country, thousands of miles and time zones away from those I would have normally been celebrating with.

As I sat looking out at the sunset over the Wicklow mountains the night I turned 40, I felt a little lonely. I sat with that feeling for a moment (my therapist would be so proud) and I eventually gave myself some grace while remembering that I am blessed with the presence of the Holy Spirit. Now the comfort of the presence of the Holy Spirit did not negate the feelings of loneliness but I did find it easier to hold that loneliness in the presence of the Holy Spirit. As I sit here writing this, I want to give thanks for all the ways I was celebrated, albeit a few days later thanks to COVID-19. I usually celebrate for a few weeks anyway

• As I began setting up for our home group last week, a dear friend of mine, Rhoda arrived with her husband. Now they usually attend separately so one of them can stay home with their three small children, so it was a little strange that they were there together. It turns out that they were there to help throw a surprise belated birthday party for me along with the rest of our homegroup and some other church members! I was legitimately surprised and so blessed by these new friendships.
• On the topic of surprises, I received a package from my small group at Gateway Friends in Southern California. It was full of thoughtful and random things, just like my small group. I am blessed by their friendship and intentional interaction through the time zones.
• My dad gifted me with a spa trip away in the Wicklow Mountains where I ate delicious food, got a massage, sat in a field with the three cutest alpacas, took long walks, and read an entire book. It was glorious!
• Several new and old friends took time to send me a card, buy me cake, and cook me dinner.

I am so blessed with all of my friendships, new and old. I am blessed by your friendship and support of my work in Ireland. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Blessings,
Molly

            < View from my birthday trip to Powerscourt

I’m Watching…

The Way We Were on RTE: The public television station RTE has done a great documentary series about the history of Ireland focusing on different topics like how they lived, played, and dressed. It’s helpful and interesting to look back at my new country’s past through this type of lens.

The Simpler Life: Last summer, 24 volunteers agreed to live a simpler life on a farm outside of Devon for research. They were tested on different areas including health, mental wellness and stress. The researchers are determining if a simpler life patterned after the Amish lifestyle improves those measurements of well-being. It’s fascinating plus it’s Amish and I am fascinated by the Amish.

I’m Reading…

Wild by Kristin Hannah. Hannah is one of my favorite authors and if you’ve been reading these updates for any length of time, you’ll recognize her. This book is about a disgraced psychologist that comes back to her hometown to care for a recently discovered feral child.

Educated by Tara Westover: WARNING: this book is a tough hang but very well written. Tara was raised as far off the grid as possible. The first time she entered a classroom was when she entered university at 17 years old. Since her family rarely recorded anything and were of course not recorded with the government, it was fascinating to read about how herself and her family members remembered their lives, memory is a strange and varied thing

I’m Listening To…

I’ve had a steady playlist of Dermot Kennedy, Chris Stapleton, Harry Styles and The Popcast Podcast; that’s all!

Praises:

• I am one step closer to getting my PPS number. I’ve become registered with a local medical practice and have sent a letter into the department handling my PPS registration. I’ve also been able to get a booster shot finally. Thank you for continuing to pray for patience during this process.
• My EFM team and I were blessed to welcome Dan Cammack, EFM Field Director and Rich Miller at the end of February. It was nice to show them around and welcome them into my home.
• My friend from our Ecumenical Prayer group invited me to join her weekly ladies Bible study and I am loving it!

Requests:

• I feel like COVID-19 is closing in on me. Please pray against that, and if I do get it, that it would be mild and easily recovered from.
• We at Greystones Nazarene Community Church have a busy Easter season coming up. Please pray for myself, Luke, and Tim as we guide our congregation during this special time.
• Please keep praying for my ability to be present here in Ireland. I am missing home, my family, and silly things like Target lately. Pray for times like the ones described above where I can feel the presence of the Holy Spirit with me.

The post Molly Morton’s April 2022 Ministry Update first appeared on FRIENDSMISSION.COM.