A new chapter...

Greetings from Ireland!

Holy cow!! We made it! After months of wedding preparations, multiple trips to Belfast, many runs to the Dublin airport picking up weary travellers, and countless cups of coffee, Cherith and I are officially Mr. and Mrs. Loper. Before going any further, we have to take a moment and say thank you to each and every one of you for your generosity, along with the thoughts and prayers that were sent our way. You all made the whole process extremely special.

After the wedding, we were able to take a spontaneous trip to Edinburgh, Scotland for a few days. The time of relaxation and simply processing what all had just happened was much needed. Its stunning to be able to reflect and marvel at how God’s hand was on the entire process.

So here we are. We've been settling nicely into our new home in Tramore, County Waterford. It's a lovely, quiet little village, which is a nice change of pace from living on the busiest street in Waterford City for the past year. We are so excited. We feel God stirring in us and can feel him prepping us for the next phase of ministry we are about to enter into.

LifeHouse Teens started on September 23rd. We were absolutely beyond excited in anticipation for our first youth event. God started moving on our hearts specifically for the youth of Waterford around 6 months ago. What’s really so amazing is that there has been such an influx of teenagers around the church and in our lives. God is obviously arranging things as they need to be. Anyone in the church culture can look around and see a mass of dissatisfied young people who have become disenfranchised with ‘church’ or ‘religion.’

LifeHouse Teens is primarily a discipleship program, as well as a time where we can connect more with our youth and have fun! As obvious as it might sound, we really feel God leading us to keep it very simple with these guys. Our main goal is simply to love them and to point them towards Jesus. It’s so easy in ministry to over-complicate things. Thank God, the Gospel is really so simple. When there is openness to that, there is no limit to what God can do in someone’s life. In regards to LifeHouse Teens, please be praying alongside us. We know that this is the right time and that God has huge things in store for people. The young ones now are the future. Think of what can happen if a few young people passionately get a hold of what God has for them. Entire countries can be changed!! It’s such an exciting prospect! There are lots of other phenomenal things happening right now. LifeHouse Church is continuing to add more and more people and we are currently in the process of re-vamping our children’s ministry, and adding to our worship team.

In November we will be jumping across the pond to Texas for a visit, and then we'll be heading to Belfast around the Christmas Holidays. We are so excited to catch up with all of you guys and our families and hear how you are all doing.

Thanks for reading once again. You make all of this possible through your kind messages, financial support and especially your prayers. We are so thankful to know that you're standing with us in faith.

We love you guys,

Jonathan and Cherith