Today is Saint Patrick’s Day, a time of revelry and celebration of all things Irish. But do you know that the namesake of the holiday, Patrick, is one of the greatest missionaries the church has ever seen? And the real reason for this party is that Patrick brought the good news of Jesus to the pagan Irish? As you wear the green keep these thoughts in mind. I’m currently working on a book on missions and here’s a small excerpt about Patrick, which hopefully adds flavor to your celebration:

…about 400 years later, on an island far to the north, Irish raiders kidnapped a young English boy named Patricius and held him as a slave for several years. While he eventually made his escape and returned to England, something started to shift in his heart. The Lord, through visions, began to pull him once again to Ireland, this time to return as a missionary to his former captors. He sailed back to preach the gospel to the pagan Irish and eventually became Saint Patrick of Ireland, the first documented missionary outside the bounds of the Roman Empire. Patrick preached the gospel as far as he could go, “to the point beyond which there is no one,” to the western edge of Ireland. Only the sea remained…

If you’re intrigued, a couple great books on Patrick are How the Irish Saved Civilization (particularly the chapter on Patrick) and The Celtic Way of Evangelism, which focuses on his methodology.