FEATURE

Northern Ireland may not be a location that comes to mind when thinking of OPC Short-Term Missions, but it may, like other regions that are developing relationships with our presbyteries, become synonymous with our summer trips.

When the Presbytery of Northern California and Nevada’s (PNCNV) foreign missions committee shared their plan to organize a team to go to Northern Ireland, as a part of their goal to become a missionary-sending presbytery, it was a welcome addition to the OPC Short-Term Missions’ growing list of destinations for the teams in the summer of 2026.

The PNCNV foreign missions committee was inspired to develop a short-term missions team after hearing the remarks of Dr. Charles Jackson, pastor of Wilmington Reformed OPC in Wilmington, Ohio, at the presbytery’s missions conference. Dr. Jackson, a former OPC missionary to Uganda, shared his own story of how his love for missions grew through a short-term missions experience.

Pastor Calvin Goligher of First OPC in Sunnyvale, California, had a natural connection to Northern Ireland through his family. Both of his parents were born in Northern Ireland before emigrating to Canada, where Calvin was raised.

While on sabbatical in Northern Ireland in 2022, Calvin filled the pulpit at Groomsport Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) (not to be confused with the EPC in the USA; rather the EPC in Northern Ireland is a sister denomination to the OPC since both denominations are members of the ICRC, the International Conference of Reformed Churches). With the idea of a short-term trip in mind, Calvin made inquiries of his friends across the EPC in the United Kingdom asking about opportunities for a short-term missions team to serve there. He received promising responses from both Knock EPC and Crumlin EPC.

Knock EPC is in the eastern part of Belfast, about 5 miles east of the city center, while Crumlin EPC is about 16 miles west of the city, set in a quiet, residential area. The spiritual heritage of Northern Ireland is strongly Presbyterian. Downtown Belfast features a large statue of a Presbyterian minister, Henry Cooke, who led the church's resistance to Unitarianism in the nineteenth century. A good proportion of the people today are evangelicals of one sort or another, and over half of the population is Roman Catholic. “Historically, there have been significant tensions and violence between the Protestant and Catholic populations. These tensions have subsided, but the effects of conflict linger,” notes Calvin.

The team of ten, which includes the team’s co-leader, Joe Horvath, an elder at Mt. Rose OPC in Reno, Nevada, will travel to Northern Ireland in mid-July. The team is made up of members from three OP churches in the Presbytery of Northern California and Nevada: First OPC, Sunnyvale, California, Grace OPC in Battle Mountain, Nevada, and Mt. Rose OPC in Reno, Nevada. The group plans to conduct a vacation Bible school ministry each morning for two weeks. Each evening, they will have another opportunity for youth ministry. The first week is scheduled to be a soccer camp organized by Crumlin EPC. The second, Lord willing, will be filled with opportunities to get to know teens involved in a summer youth ministry in Belfast with Knock EPC.

Building relationships and getting to know one another as team members are among the goals of the Northern Ireland team, which has been meeting in preparation since January. Team members are also looking forward to building new and hopefully long-lasting relationships with believers in their sister churches in Northern Ireland. As they explain, “We hope to encourage the two congregations with which we are partnering and to learn what it is like to function in another country while adapting to Northern Irish accents.”

The group hopes to grow in evangelism and point people to Christ and to faithful, local Reformed churches. Interacting with the parents of the children in attendance at the two vacation Bible schools is another evangelistic opportunity the team hopes to pursue.

The interest in evangelism in this region has grown in recent years. Calvin explains, “The United Kingdom has historically been a strong Protestant country, but sadly it has become overwhelmingly secular. The same trend is happening across Europe. Northern Ireland stands out as an exception to the trend, because there are still many evangelical Protestants in the region. However, the churches with which the OPC enjoys close relationships are facing some significant challenges. We hope to strengthen our brothers and sisters in these churches, and even more broadly we hope that Northern Ireland will be a base for evangelizing the rest of the United Kingdom, and in turn Europe. Northern Ireland played that very role centuries ago in the great missionary work of Irish monks like Columbanus, who was trained at Bangor Abbey, not far from East Belfast.”

The group covets the prayers of God’s people for this trip, and the future of the Reformed faith in the United Kingdom. Calvin shares that in his prayer requests for the trip, “We appreciate the prayers of our friends across the OPC, for God's blessing on our small efforts. We also hope that many in the OPC will be encouraged to learn about the long-term relationships we have with Reformed churches in Northern Ireland. J. Gresham Machen visited Belfast around the time that he published Christianity and Liberalism. This part of his ministry is not well known!”

When asked about what he hoped to have accomplished upon returning, Calvin replied, “Most importantly, we hope to have introduced children and their families to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We also hope that our team will leave behind a lasting sense of encouragement in our partner churches. Finally, we hope that we ourselves will have grown in our vision and our prayers for evangelism.”

Please pray for this group:

• For smooth travel, good health, and spiritual growth for the team, especially as they seek to grow in evangelism.
• That God will provide plenty of children and youth who are willing to participate in these ministries, and that he will open their hearts to the gospel.
• That the ministry will encourage the local churches and provide avenues and opportunities for further ministry.

The Northern Ireland trip is an example of the OPC Short-Term Missions' “Renewed Focus” initiative in action. Through this effort, churches and presbyteries are encouraged to adopt OPC STM fields, build meaningful ministry partnerships, and send teams to serve alongside faithful Reformed churches around the world. As the Presbytery of Northern California and Nevada steps forward in this effort, OPC STM hopes many others will be inspired and consider how the Lord might use their own presbyteries and congregations in similar ways. If this concept interests you or you have questions, please visit the OPC Short-Term Missions website or email David Nakhla, OPC Short-Term Missions Coordinator, at opcshorttermmissions@opc.org for more information.

Please also pray for the other teams who plan to serve this year with OPC Short-Term Missions.