Jamin Bradley

In the fourth century, a teenager named Patrick was kidnapped by pirates and sold to an Irish master as a sheepherder. This situation led him to develop a pretty active prayer life, which was answered by God in a dream one night. In the dream, he was told that a ship was ready for him, so he set out on a long journey toward the coast. Sure enough, he arrived to find a boat that eventually got him home.

After returning home, he had a dream in which his Irish acquaintances asked him to come back. He began to press into ministry, rose to the rank of bishop, and then set off to return to the place of his oppression. Over the course of forty years, he baptized thousands and founded many churches and monasteries.

Like many of the saints of old, the Holy Spirit was so miraculously at work in his ministry that it’s sometimes hard to distinguish which stories are true and which are legendary. Whatever the case, he made enough of a difference in the country to be remembered centuries later.

What might God do through us and in us when we’re bold enough to follow him into the places we would never otherwise go?