Day Eleven: County Roscommon
Monday 11 May
The annual VOX magazine Finding Faith Tour looks very different this year. Instead of a 7-day road trip around the island, this year VOX editor Ruth Garvey-Williams brings you highlights from all 32 counties (one per day plus one for each of the 31 days in May). Contact Ruth if you have a story to share.
Day Eleven: The Country of my Heart
Coming to Ireland out of desperation 11 years ago, Ana Paula and Pedro Marques found that God had a plan for their family they could never have dreamed of. Today they are leading the Light for the People International Church in Roscommon town and they have fallen in love with Ireland and the Irish people.
“In Portugal, we come from a Catholic background but when I was 17 I went to a more evangelical church and I loved it,” Ana said. “For years I believed in Jesus but it didn’t really make a difference in my life. My husband and I went through a lot of ups and downs and in 2003, I remember one day I said to myself, ‘I surrender, I can’t do it any more.’ Then I felt this peace come over and this assurance that Jesus was with me. That is when my journey started.”
Running a successful business in Portugal, Ana and Pedro lost everything in the recession. With four children to care for, the only way out was to move to Ireland and find work.
“When we look back, we see that it was the best thing that happened to our family.”
“When we came here, we were so broken. We were always people who wanted to fulfil our own dreams and build our own kingdom. But over the last 11 years, God has shown us that He wants us to build His kingdom.”
After two years in Ireland, the pastor of the Brazilian church in Roscommon was leaving and the church invited Pedro and Ana to come as pastors of the church (working part time to support their family).
“We love Roscommon and we feel at home and we know we won’t ever go back to Portugal. We would not live anywhere else in the world. I love the Irish people. This is the country of my heart. Roscommon still has the feel of a small town. The people are kind and they care about each other; it has this amazing feeling of community.”
The church has transitioned to become bi-lingual with a Portuguese service on Saturday evenings and an English service on Sundays that attracts a wide range of nationalities. Ahead of the curve, Pedro was already live streaming the services on YouTube and Facebook and so Covid-19 was not such a challenge as it has been for other churches.
“We can’t meet but we have online small groups during the week and more people are attending than ever before,” Ana said.
The church had been linking in with Food Cloud to help families who were struggling to make ends meet and since the start of the lockdown, this work has exploded. Pedro is now delivering food parcels to around 25 families across the community.
“I wasn’t born here but I am Irish now and I believe God is going to do amazing things here in Ireland,” Ana smiles!
