God Calls Vance and Jenn to Ireland After Using Them to Plant Church in Poland

A man shows up to Vance and Jenn’s apartment with a list of questions, ready to prove the Bible wrong. “We talked for several hours that evening, and question after question—somehow we always had a scripture to read with him that addressed his question,” says Jenn. At one point, the man even asked them, “Did someone tell you that I was gonna ask these questions so you could prepare? Like how did you know?”  

No one had warned Vance and Jenn of the questions he would ask. They were just sharing whatever God brought to their minds. “Then we shared our testimonies with him, and he told us about his life.” Jenn says. "He had been involved in some really heavy things, but I think he felt loved and accepted.” 

By the end of the night, the man asked, “What is happening to me? I feel like I have electricity running through my body!” Vance and Jenn just chuckled to each other and said, “Well, I'm pretty sure that's the Holy Spirit that you're feeling.” 

A few days later, Vance gets a phone call, and it’s the man talking a mile a minute. He says, “I have my friends over, we're painting my house, and they're asking me the same questions I asked you. And I'm giving them the answers you gave me, and they're amazed!” Caught off guard, Vance says, “Wait a second—are you even a believer?” The man replies, “You have no idea how much I believe.” 

From that point on, God radically changed this man's life in such a way that was unmistakable to everyone around him. That man went on to be the lead pastor at Vance and Jenn’s church plant in Poland.  

Today, that church has four elder pastors and a congregation of about 40 attenders on any given Sunday. “They aren't just surviving, they are thriving,” Vance says. 

Now that God has established a healthy church in Poland after Vance and Jenn’s 11 years of faithful service there, He’s calling them to move to Ireland. The need there is significant. “Almost no one is preaching the gospel,” Vance says. “It’s very post-Christian, and there are not many gospel workers or faithful Bible-preaching churches.”  

They will join Encompass workers Roy and Holly, who have served in Ireland for more than 20 years but currently have no other Encompass teammates there. In many ways, Dublin reminds Vance and Jenn of the Poland where they began 11 years ago—a place with many people who need to hear the gospel and few workers to reach them. 

Vance and Jenn don't yet know exactly what ministry in Dublin will look like, but they plan to begin the same way they did in Poland: by meeting people, making disciples, and trusting God to build His church. “Ultimately, the goal is to make disciples who make disciples and form churches.” 

They’ve seen what God can do with one person who is willing to ask questions and open a Bible. Now they’re just trusting God to lead them to the next person in Dublin. 

Please pray for them as they work toward getting their visa and rebuilding their financial support.