Happy St. Patrick's Day! It's one of my favorite days of the year because it honors one of Christianity's greatest missionaries. Some people believe Patrick was Irish, but actually he was Welsh. He was captured by Irish raiders as a young boy and taken as a slave to Ireland. After he escaped a few years later, he felt the call of God to go back to the people who had held him captive to share the Good News of Christ with them. This passage from the book of Hosea was significant for Patrick, Those who are not my people I will call my people, and those not beloved I will call my beloved, and in the very place it was said to them, You are not My people, they will be called Sons of God. Patrick spent his adult life evangelizing and discipling the people of Ireland.
If you would like to learn more about Patrick and his life and ministry, here is a brief but good article from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association: http://ow.ly/1nouy . Thomas Cahill's "How the Irish Saved Civilization" is also a great resource about the evangelistic work of Patrick and his fellow missionaries.
