St. Patrick’s Day Quiz

photo by Sarah Voigt, in Ireland

I’ve gotten behind in my writing goals this month, since I’ve been down with the flu. Today, we’re going to take a break from my Easter series, “The Tree that Loved Me,” to have a little St. Patrick’s Day fun. He was an amazing man of God, and whether you know a lot about his life, or nothing at all, I thought you would enjoy a little quiz to learn even more.
 

See how you do on the following ten questions (answers are at the bottom). Send the link to friends to see how well they do. You could even award a prize for the person who gets the most correct answers!

1    1. What country was St. Patrick from?

a.      Ireland

b.      Great Britain   

c.       Poland

d.      Africa

2    2.  Why do we remember him on March 17?

a.      He was born on that day

b.      He was baptized on that day

c.       He encountered a leprechaun on March 17

d.      He died on March 17

3     3. What kind of work did he do?

a.      Cleric

b.      Slave

c.       Shepherd

d.      Missionary

4     4. How old was he when he left home?

a.      16

b.      42

c.       36

d.      5

5     5. What was the main religion of Ireland during his lifetime?

6     6. How did he become a Christian?

7     7.Why did he return to Ireland?

8     8.What is his connection to the shamrock (three leaf clover)?

9     9.Which of these is a quote from St. Patrick:

a.      “He watched over me before I knew Him and before I learned sense or even distinguished between good and evil.”

b.       “Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.”

c.       Thou art the Hope of those who toil. Thou art the Comforter of those in sorrow. Thou art the Way to those who wander. Thou art Master to the nations.

d.       “Be still and know that I am God.
Be still and know that I am.
Be still and know.
Be still.
Be.”

1       10.  How was he able to rid Ireland of snakes?

a.      He prayed and God caused all the snakes to drown themselves in the ocean.

b.      He asked the people to capture all the snakes and throw them in huge bonfires.

c.       He convinced people that snake meat was a delicacy and they eventually vanished.

d.      An angel appeared and turned all the snakes into pillars of salt for biting the people.

Answers:

1.       B. Great Britain   

2.      D. It is the traditional date of his death, in 461 A.D.

3.      A – D. Patrick did all of these jobs at different times of his life.

4.      A. He was sixteen when he was captured by pirates, taken to Ireland and sold as a slave.

5.      Druidism – a pagan religion

6.      Patrick’s father and grandfather were both believers, but Patrick didn’t give his life to Jesus until realizing his need for forgiveness during his years as a shepherd-slave in Ireland. After 6 years, Patrick heard a voice telling him to board a boat for home. He ran away, made it safely home, and devoted himself to learning more about God.

7.  Patrick heard a voice in a vision of the Irish people saying, “We appeal to you, holy servant boy, to come and walk among us.” In the year 405, when he was about 30, St. Patrick returned to the land of his captivity as a missionary to Ireland.

8.      The Irish people revered the shamrock as the symbol of new life and spring. Patrick used their love of nature to teach truths about God. The shamrock demonstrated how God can be three in one (the Trinity): Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

9.      A – D. All of these are quotes from his writings.

10.  None of these. There were none there to begin with.

I hope you’ve had some fun with this. I encourage you to do a bit of your own research and use this day to praise God for reaching a young prodigal, far from his homeland, with the hope of salvation. Instead of becoming bitter about his years of slavery and trials, Patrick turned around to bless the very ones who had caused his pain. 

Like Joseph from the Old Testament book of Genesis, he said, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Gen. 50:20). What a tremendous lesson of forgiveness, humility, and mercy these men left us! Let’s go and do the same!

#who was St. Patrick #fun quiz for St. Patrick’s Day #what does the shamrock represent #was St. Patrick Irish #why wear green #no more snakes in Ireland

The Tree that Loved Me: Part 2 (Easter)

Sixteen year old Eric Irivuzumugabe ran with his grandfather from the horror that overtook their village. Separated from his grandfather and with nowhere else to hide, he scrambled up a cypress tree to escape the slaughter. There he listened, terrified, as he heard the sounds of violence and murder all around him. He heard the screams and could do nothing to help his family and friends. In one hundred days, one million Rwandan people died at the hands of their brothers and sisters in the 1994 genocide.
 

Eric and his three uncles survived by hiding in the trees, without any food or water, for fifteen days. During that time seventy of their family members were killed. Even though Eric’s father had read to him from the Bible throughout his childhood, he did not yet have a personal relationship with God. With unthinkable hatred and cruelty all around him, Eric could not believe in this “loving” God his father had tried to share with him.

Yet, he could not mistake the obvious voice that called to him as he clung to the cypress tree (known in Rwanda as “the tree of life”). Day after day, alternately praying for mercy and escape, and revenge on his enemies, Eric concentrated on staying alive. When he had no strength left to hold on, a voice coaxed Eric to focus on the branches in front of him, the leaves, the ants that busily traveled to and fro in the midst of unspeakable terror. 

Even though it was two years before Eric was able to let go of his fear and doubt, he never forgot the feeling of being held while hiding in those trees. The love of the Father encompassed him like nothing he’d ever felt before, and Eric knew God loved him; He had provided those trees to save him and his uncles. Eventually he came to know him as his true Father and Creator, Savior, and Provider.

In My Father, Maker of the Trees: How I Survived the Rwandan Genocide, Eric Irivuzumugabe tells his story of being reunited with his two brothers, and his long journey to faith and forgiveness (Baker Publishing Group). Now, he works to reach others orphaned by genocide and helps them through the process of forgiveness and healing that can only be found in Jesus Christ. He is a living testimony of Jesus’ power to help us forgive our enemies.

I listened to the audio book of Eric’s story on a road trip and alternately sobbed with grief over the tragedy and violence, then praised and rejoiced in God’s amazing work of redemption in and through Eric.  Before he could accept the cross of the One who loved him, Eric met God first in a cypress tree in the midst of unspeakable tragedy.

Easter will be here in less than three weeks. How many of us are “up a tree;” unable to celebrate the joy of Jesus’ resurrection because of hatred? Is there anyone standing between you and the cross—someone you can’t forgive because of the hurt they’ve caused you? Is your Father—your Maker—whispering to you now? With persistent words of love, does He compel you to—hold on, let go, forgive—to let Him be the strength you do not have?

Here is the link if you would like to hear Eric’s testimony in his own voice and get information about his book. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yuA9yTsFP8

#Rwandan genocide #forgiving murder #surviving war #hearing God’s voice #up a tree

The Tree that Loved Me: Part 1 (Easter)

The next three posts are the stories of those who have come to faith through unusual experiences with trees. The following story is from a testimony I had the privilege to hear at a Celebrate Recovery meeting:

She climbed into “her” tree, traumatized after being forced to take part in an especially gruesome occult ceremony. Only nine years old, she had nowhere else to go, since her parents were the ones who led her in this worship of blood, abuse, and darkness. She didn’t know who God was, but she knew this was not what she wanted. There had to be something more.

In her tree she found safety. She came here often and told it everything. She held tightly to its trunk, as she rested in the fork where the limbs came together. She felt encompassed by love—as if all her pain drained into the tree, traveled down its trunk and out through the roots. Away from her. It was her only place of refuge on the Reservation.

Although one of her abusers, she did have one friend she could talk to. This woman seemed to care some about her welfare. But when the woman’s fiancé broke off their engagement, she despaired and began to threaten to kill herself. Missing the only scrap of attention she had received from anyone, the girl was annoyed by the constant whimper of complaints. She’d had enough, “Just do it then!” she screamed, “You always say you’re going to kill yourself, but you never do!”

The next day, she heard the news—her only friend had shot herself. Driven by guilt, she ran to her tree and sobbed for hours. Not long after, her family moved off the Reservation where there was no tree; nowhere to go for comfort. She hardened her heart to everyone around her. Never again would she love someone; she would never trust again. She became a fighter; she didn’t need anyone. Drugs became her escape, but her misery grew.

Against her will, she found herself drawn to a group of Christians at school. She openly despised them, even as she yearned for the joy she saw in their lives. In time, she found herself on the edge of their group, listening in. Then, one of the gang. They told her about Jesus and the cross where He died—out of love.

Suddenly she understood the Presence in her childhood tree was not a spirit of nature, but the Son of God reaching out to her the only way she could understand at the time. Rather than gruesome images of blood sacrifice, she associated with the occult, Jesus wooed her with tangible love. She realized her true tree was the cross where Jesus willingly gave himself as the sacrifice for sin. Before He rose again to conquer death and sin forever.

God had prepared her, so many years before, to hear the message of salvation at just the right time—when she was ready to give herself to Him completely. 

How wonderful we are loved by a God like this, who comes to us in ways we can accept and understand in the darkest hours of life. He met this little girl’s need for comfort through a tree she could cling to when no one else loved her, and brought her to himself through the love and joy of His people. 

Now, she lives for the Christ of the Tree that loved her. She loves Him. She’s forgiven. Free. And lives a life of purpose, telling others the hope Jesus has for them as well.

#the cross of Jesus #testimonies for Easter #unusual conversions to Christianity