When WHM missionary Eric Brauer and his family moved to Ireland in 1990, he could count on one hand the number of Irish national “paid-by-church” pastors in the country. Today, there are more than he can keep track of. While the Celtic Tiger has been revolutionizing the Irish economy, the Lion of Judah has been roaring strength into the Irish church!

“What is happening in Wexford right now is really remarkable,” says Eric, “to have an Irish national pastor plant a church, build it up to a healthy and solid place, and then for him to move on to start another church in the county, leaving the mother church in the hands of the local church leaders and their new Irish pastor. That is something that just wouldn’t have happened twenty years ago.”

Up until recently, churches in Ireland were largely initiated and led by foreigners. For most local believers, church-planting just wasn’t part of their vocabulary. When WHM first arrived in Ireland, the team planted Hope Fellowship in Dublin, a church that was transferred into the hands of Irish leadership in 1995. The challenges encountered in that leadership transfer led the team to explore a new strategy for ministry in Ireland: facilitation church-planting. In this approach, the team would take a behind-the-scenes role in supporting and encouraging Irish leaders working with or planting new churches. Other mission agencies were making similar shifts in strategy, and WHM banded together with these missions to form a partnership called Church Planting Resources (CPR) specifically designed to encourage Irish church-planting.

It was an uphill battle at first. Ireland has a history of poverty and oppression that nurtured in them an aversion to assuming authority; undermining the rise and confidence of would-be Irish leaders. But the Spirit of God was at work; displayed in a stark contrast in the history of WHM’s ministry. In the first 10 years in Ireland, the WHM team planted one church; in the 10 years after the team began taking a facilitation approach, the team saw three Irish churches planted and 35 other churches strengthened and encouraged in their ministry.

Evidence of the rising Irish church goes far beyond the numbers of congregations WHM has worked with. In 1998, the Irish Bible Institute began training leaders for the Irish church, with a vision to see “vibrant, gospel-centered churches making an impact for Christ across Ireland.” In 2004, evangelicals in Ireland formed an umbrella organization, the Evangelical Alliance of Ireland, with a vision to see “The Kingdom of God become unavoidable in every sphere of Irish life.” In 2007, the Presbyterian Church in Ireland launched a home mission campaign to encourage its congregations to become “vibrant communities of Christ, serving and transforming Ireland.” The confidence and clarity with which these organizations articulate their desire to reach Ireland is evidence that the Lion of Judah is indeed on the move!

Eric notes that, “If there is anything the WHM team has learned over our years in Ireland, it is the high value that the Irish put on relationships —relationship is everything.” He continues, “If we take the time to invest in relationships, then the opportunity for influence over time is great. If people understand that we’re really here to forward their mission and vision for the Irish church, then the opportunity for impact is great. But we have to be willing to engage in a ministry that doesn’t have our name on it.”

With a gospel that gives us a name far better than any we could earn for ourselves, and Irish-led churches beginning to flourish around the island, Eric and his team are glad to take a backseat to the Lion of Judah and His mysterious ways.