Today we continue our discussion on Friendship, and friendship with God.

One night a man by the name of Victoricus appeared to his friend Patrick in a dream. Patrick had known Victoricus in Ireland when they were slaves. In Patrick’s dream, Victoricus held a letter with the heading “The Voice of the Irish,” and as Patrick read it, he heard the voice of a multitude of people crying and begging him to come back and walk among them once more.

You know, the ordinary person might be surprised and happy to have an old friend, or even a multitude, appear to them in a dream. But Patrick’s life was different. The Irish in the early 5^th century were a barbaric collection of Celtic tribes, and they were regularly sending out raiding parties to capture slaves and riches.  One day a great fleet of boats swept up the west coast of Britain and seized “many thousands” of young prisoners.  Among these prisoners was a young man by the name of Patrick, who was taken to the slave markets in Ireland.  Although he was educated and spoiled as a youth, he now found himself bound to slavery in the cold highlands of Ireland. Destitute with barely any clothing or food to eat, he would spend months with little to no contact with other humans. Yet in this barren place he developed a friendship with Victoricus, and a deep relationship with God.

Victoricus was a reminder to Patrick of Ireland’s need for help. He was an Irishmen trapped in the same slavery that Patrick had experienced. Perhaps you are like Victoricus and you need help? Or perhaps you’ve had a picture in your heart of someone you would like to help?

The dream appearing to Patrick to come and help the Irish was relentless, and finally he surrendered and trained for the ministry in France. A few years later he emerged from seminary as a young Bishop, eventually arriving on the shores of Ireland as the country’s first known missionary. By the time of Patrick’s death the Irish slave trade had ended, and murder and inter-tribal warfare had decreased significantly.

Today, you can be that friend, that caring voice of encouragement as Victoricus was to Patrick, and as Patrick was to an entire nation. You can help someone else find their destiny. So go ahead, take the risk, you won’t be disappointed!

I encourage you today to go to my website, www.LeslieMcNulty.com. We are here to help you, and have made tools available to you that will change your life!