Chris and Joi Copeland

We are Chris and Joi Copeland. We have three sons: Garrison (21), Gage, (19), and Gavin (18). Garrison is in Colorado attending University. Gavin lived with us in Ireland for almost three years before returning to Colorado to begin his adult life after turning 18. Gage still lives with us in Ireland and is attending University and competing in Strongman Competitions.

Joi and I both became Christians in 1990 and have been active in church ministry through men’s and women’s ministry, youth ministry, worship, leadership, community care, and global ministry. Chris is an ordained and licensed minister and Joi is a published author who writes Christian women’s fiction. We felt the call to become full-time missionaries in 2013 and partnered with WorldVenture as our sending organization. In 2014 we were appointed by WorldVenture to go to Ireland, and after six years of raising support we arrived in July 2020 during the beginning of a global pandemic.

Our focus is to facilitate a church-planting movement in Ireland by developing leaders, fostering spiritual growth, writing, leading worship, counseling pastors, preaching, evangelizing, discipling, studying the Bible, neighboring, and helping strengthen marriages and families through men's and women's ministries. Our vision is that Galway City Church, where we work, will be the healthy hub that will create offshoot churches throughout the West Coast of Ireland.

Ireland is a beautiful country, but it is steeped in spiritual darkness. The Irish are welcoming and hospitable people, but many are lost in growing hopelessness. Ireland once had a deep Christian history. Now, it is considered post-Church and they are rapidly abandoning faith in God. Our desire is to share the love and truth of Jesus with the Irish and the growing multi-national population living in Ireland so that God will be glorified and His kingdom will be restored in Ireland.