January 23rd, 2012
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January 11th, 2012
‘The Drop,” our youth outreach drop-in center is going strong! Now six months since it started, we have begun the 1st step in taking it outside the doors of the church. A key in reaching this generation is to live life with them like Jesus did. With that in mind, one of our youth workers, Penny, opened up her home for the evening recently. A bunch of us packed into her home and were pleased to see a great turn-out of youth for the evening. Three of the guys even got there 2 hours early to make a 4 course meal for the gang! The kitchen was bustling with food & preparations, the dining room was music central with teens playing the guitar and singing, the sunroom was chatting and hanging out, and the living room was captivated by ‘Living with the Amish on BBC.” It was a great success in invading their world with The Kingdom. May the Lord continue to give us deeper friendships and a voice into this young generation that has a destiny with Jesus…they just don’t know it yet. 
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December 25th, 2011
We just wanted to wish you and yours a very merry and blessed Christmas and holiday season. We are so thankful to the Lord for our first Christmas as a family of three. Looking forward to coming home in January once little Luke has his passport! Love and blessings,
Jason, Tania & Luke
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November 30th, 2011
Horizon International Family of Churches’ Leadership Gathering took place in Dungarvan this year. The seeds of the vision of Horizon were planted during the 1980’s when four churches were planted in Europe through a network based in Florida, USA. The ministers and leaders representing the members of Horizon have joined themselves together in a common commitment to walk together in the holy bonds of love, support and mutual submission with the collective vision to plant, build and strengthen local autonomous churches in the context of family relationships. The Horizon Network has formed through individual church friendships, not just denominational doctrinal statements. The Lord is unifying us first in Him then in vision and peripheral theology. It is wonderful to have ‘cross pollination’ of other parts of the Church to enrich us and give us DNA that can reproduce here in Europe.
Out for a Chinese Dinner in Dungarvan
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November 17th, 2011
We are proud to announce the birth of our sweet little Baby Luke, born at 11 minutes to 8pm on 11/11/11 in room number 11 at Cork University Maternity Hospital. Baby Luke weighed 7lbs 13 ounces at birth and is 20 inches long. Both he and myself (Mommy) are healthy and doing well.
We have clearly seen God’s hand on this as so many prayers have been answered! Even down to the timing of when to leave for the hotel (to be nearer the hospital and labor there), to when to leave for the hospital (where my water broke), to the willingness of the midwives to stick closely to our all natural birth plan….it was amazing!
Thank you to all of you who were lifting us up in prayer. We could definitely feel your prayers! Hope you enjoy these few pics. There are LOTS more on facebook.
First Family pic, just shortly after Luke’s birth.
Proud Daddy
Content Mommy
Don’t you just wanna kiss those cute little cheeks?
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November 1st, 2011
It’s hard to believe November is actually here! It doesn’t seem like long ago that we took a pregnancy test….and how time has flown since then!
We thought we’d just give you an update of all our last minute preparations as we await the arrival of Baby Boy Brower, aka “Shnook.” And no, we still haven’t decided on a name for him, but at least we finally have some ideas!
In addition to all the usual preparations, we are trying to find a hotel or B&B that Jason (and my parents) can stay in while I’m in the hospital. You may recall the hospital in Cork is 1hr 15 minutes away, and because I have to share my room with about 3 other women and babies, Jason is not allowed to sleep there. So we preferred for him (and my parents) to be nearby instead of driving home. Can’t wait for Mom and Dad to get here, by the way! They arrive on the 12th!!!
We are believing for great favor with all the details as labor and delivery progresses. Being that this is a more socialized system, we cannot choose our doctor or midwife…it’s whoever is on duty at the time. However the midwives are just lovely, and we discovered they even have a birthing pool (first come first serve), which is apparently not advertised!
So enjoy the pics below of all the nesting and preparations, and please do keep us 3 in prayer as we prepare for the BIG DAY!
A few weeks ago, after I finished the Peter Rabbit bumper.
A little Christmas project for Shnook.
Jason cutting the cornice board. The hardware store gave us this scrap wood for free...so with materials around the house this cost us next to nothing!!
Nursery so far...with the crib given to us and lots of books and clothes given by wonderful people. We are so blessed!
Me and Shnook, last week, at 37 weeks. Almost time!
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October 18th, 2011
The Bandstand on the water
A few months ago during a ‘week of prayer’ at our church, Steve (our Pastor), felt God say, “Worship in the Park.” He even wrote it on the wall, (Steve, not God :O) on a paper.) Many obstacles stood in the way, but what God started He intended to fulfill. I ‘happened’ to meet one of the former mayors at a breakfast months ago and he said if there was, “ever anything we needed…” So I called him up, he talked to the Dungarvan Town Council, and they met and gave us permission to use the park. This was a major move of God.
What was truly amazing was the weather forecast of rain all weekend. Saturday was a bit scary with all the rain, but Sunday was beautiful, and just to let us know it was a miracle, Monday it was lashing rain again. I think God should take over the Weather Channe; it would be much more accurate.
This past Sunday for 2 hours Tania, myself, the DCF Worship Team, our church and people from our town, sang songs to our God. We didn’t have a hundred turn up (yet), but what a start to see people come by to see what was happening. This is a first for Dungarvan. People are not sure how to categorize us, but many are liking what they are seeing and hearing. We also saw people we do know and have built friendships with in the community come and get blessed. One young man who helped with the sound (and has also attended “The Drop”) just went on and on to us about how impressed he was, how honored he was to be a part, and how he really should check out what we are “all about.” Go GOD!!!
It's Happening!
Seeking God for our community
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September 24th, 2011
Back home in South Carolina we are used to the “typical” baptism service including a nice baptismal in the front of a church or a lovely swimming pool on a hot summer’s day.
Well, in Ireland things don’t work quite the same way. First, our church used to be an art gallery…so no baptismal pool (nor are they common here anyway). Aaaand, if you want to be baptized in a warm pool on a hot summer’s day, try Italy! So, we thought we’d share some pictures from a recent baptism our church had a few Sundays ago, and you can see a baptism, “Irish style.”
This is the baptism of David, a young man who came to the Lord out of a background of drugs, alcohol and shamanism, just to name a few things. It is amazing the complete turnaround that Jesus has done in his life! He recently started attending our church, and wanted to be baptized. This was also JASON’s first chance to participate in the “dunking” part of the baptism…which was a memorable experience, to say the least.
Singing before the actual baptism...notice the difference in clothing here...it was chilly!
As they enter the Celtic Sea, Jason has second thoughts. Remember, this is September.
Water feels juuuuust fine!
Getting ready to baptize David.
Praise God for all He's doing in this young man's life!!
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August 12th, 2011
Just recently our church here in Dungarvan bid farewell to two very special families: The Somogyis, a sweet Hungarian family, and the Hollands, our friends from the Harvest.
Lorita and Steve sharing some encouraging words as we say farewell to the Hollands.
Since most of you probably know Kyle and Wendy Holland and their family, we’ll start with them. Some of you may have already heard that just this week they moved to Dublin; if you haven’t, here’s the scoop: For quite a few months we as the DCF staff have prayed and felt the Lord leading the Hollands to move to Dublin to take over the Pastorate of our sister church, Cornerstone Dublin, as there was a great need there. In Kyle’s place our church elder, Steve Hamer, has taken over as lead pastor of DCF. Kyle will still be visiting and involved in an apostolic roll with our church, and we know this will only strengthen our connection with Cornerstone in Dublin. Steve was recently set in as pastor over DCF in a wonderful evening service. All of us on the staff see this as a POSITIVE TRANSITION and are excited for what is happening. Tania and I continue to know God has us here as part of the Dungarvan team, and we are excited to sow even more into our community. So while it was sad to see the Hollands go, we know we’ll still get to see them from time to time; and Kyle even more as he will still minister at our fellowship. We are very excited about this NEW SEASON with Steve Hamer as pastor and definitely see the Lord’s hand in all this!
Jason honoring the Somogyi family on their last Sunday with us.
Our second family that left was Harold and Rita Somogyi and their three children. Having come to Ireland to help their children learn English, their plan was to stay for 2 years. They arrived at virtually the same time we did, and just a couple of weeks ago left for their homeland. We can’t say enough about their sweet spirits and servant’s hearts, and they are definitely leaving a big hole as they go. Rebeka, the eldest daughter, was very special to Tania and myself as she has been in the youth group from the time we were leading it. It was a delight to see her grow and blossom into a lovely young lady.
So during this time of transition we really do appreciate your prayers for us as a staff as we seek God on His direction and leading in all we undertake in this next season.
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