The not-so emerald Isle

"Dear ladies and gentlemen, we are 20 minutes from landing in Dublin. The bad news is the airport has closed because of the snow, so we'll be in a holding pattern for a little while as they clear the runway to land."

So began my trip to Ireland! When I left Switzerland it had been raining. I wasn't expecting a winter wonderland in Ireland. David Coffey, my student for the week, picked me up at the airport. I'm glad he did. My plan to take the bus would have gone awry since the bus service to Belfast was canceled due to the weather. We were able to get a room in a nearby hotel and thankfully made it without incident. Waking up the next morning, we looked out to see the world still in it's white blanket. We got a typical Irish breakfast – eggs, ham, sausage and porridge – and headed to our destination, the Child Evangelism Fellowship® camp center of Seaview in Kilkeel. We arrived safely after hitting the grocery store and started unpacking our gear: an iMac, a laptop, power cables, note pads, our luggage and our fresh groceries (which surprised our wives – real food, not bachelor food!).

Our training time began with a time of prayer. I had never done something like this before, and needed the Lord's guidance. Sharing how to use the tools given in Adobe® InDesign, Photoshop or Illustrator is one thing. Teaching the concepts of graphic design is another. Oh sure, we did cover a lot of "how-to's" during our time, but when David took the Design Software Course I had given in January, I noticed his layout skills and natural eye for design. Not everyone has it. When I later learned that he was leaving his position as an area director for CEF in Ireland to go to the national office to become the layout person, I had the vision of coming alongside and coaching him.

We spent three and a half days looking at design topics like motion, balance, negative space. We also went through the design process … starting with creating thumbnails. As in the course in January, we covered what the printer needed: bleeds, margins, printer marks, color profiles and more. After several days at Seaview, we packed up to move to the Irish national office, but first we visited the CEF Specialized Book Ministry. They were gracious enough to take us out to lunch, and we got a chance to see their facilities.

Besides the great time with David, the biggest highlight of the trip was visiting Revival Movement, a ministry CEF teams up with to provide evangelistic literature to children around the world. Samuel Adams, who directs the work there, met us warmly and gave us a tour of the facilities. It was impressive. Using several web presses and a large-format sheet-fed press, Revival Movement prints five tons of evangelical material a day! This is not material to be sold in a Christian bookstore – it's all for handing out to people around the world so they can know the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. While there, we saw several rolls of Meet the King!, the evangelistic tract I designed and my co-worker, Tim Shirey, illustrated. What a blessing! Other material for CEF was in the various stages of production as well in multiple languages, as well as the gospel of John, New Tribes Mission materials and an assortment of other items. Just like CEF relies on supporters, Revival Movement cannot operate without churches and people giving. Check them out at http://revivalmovement.org.

All work and no play isn't so nice when visiting a country for the very first time, so we had a chance to visit the Silent Valley, as well as take a tour of Belfast. It was an incredible time.

I ask that you please pray for David and his wife, Kathy, as they get settled into working at the CEF national office in Ireland. Taking the reigns of the literature ministry is not an easy task, especially with a very limited printing background.

Lord-willing, I'll be heading back to Ireland some day. Next time, with the family!

Photos, from top, going clockwise: the Silent Valley; the huge amounts of literature waiting to be shipped at Revival Movement; Brent with Kathy and David Coffey; rolls of Meet the King! which had just been printed.

All together

It's a rare sight to have all the Kilchzimmer workers together at one time, so when we were able to gather together this past Monday, we commemorated it with a group photo. We included the long term volunteers as well. When you look at who is working at Kilchzimmer, you get quite a mixed group – a lot of countries are represented: Germany, Ireland, Britain, the USA, the Netherlands, Poland and Switzerland. That diverse group shows the unity that Christ brings. We have different backgrounds, but one goal … winning children for Christ! We're proud to work in this team, and thank God for them.