TnT Teams

It's not the end, but a new beginning

2011-06-15T23:47:00.002+01:00

This past week the members of the 2011 TNT Team began to head home. It was sad for all of us, and many didn’t want to go. We were all amazed at how quickly 3 weeks went. We know that God brought us all together to accomplish something that no other group of people could do. We learned from each other and grew together. Even though we were together for a short time, we became a family. On our last night together, the team shared with the Shankill Assembly about our experiences in Ireland and how the Lord worked through our short time here. Trinity, Noelle, and Heidi are staying longer to continue serving the Lord and the Shankill Assembly. Trinity and Noelle will be leaving at the end of June and Heidi will remain in Ireland until the end of August. Pray that the Lord will use them in the next few weeks and months to continue His work. They will continue to do door to door work and will be going out into the community to meet others from around the area. We hope to talk to teens and kids in particular as we are hoping to expand the youth group that meets on Monday nights. During her stay, Heidi wants to focus on meeting and talking with youth, as she is hoping to build relationships with them. Pray for Heidi and for the Lord to lead her to people so she can build relationships and hopefully lead them to Christ. Please pray for the girls as they do door to door ministry as well.

2011-06-09T17:15:00.002+01:00

Team members talk to passers by and distribute 4YOU magazines.

2011-06-09T17:12:00.001+01:00

On North Earl St, Dublin

2011-06-09T17:05:00.004+01:00

Team member Elisa is the music teacher at Emmaus Bible College and put together a singing group that was used to encourage Christians and reach out to people on the street across Ireland.

Last Day

2011-06-08T18:46:00.000+01:00

Yesterday, Regina and I knocked on doors for about two hours in a nearby neighbourhood. We had a few interesting conversations, but the most encouraging one was with a young woman named Katrina. We asked her if she had a Bible, and she said that she did not, but she has been reading some online. She’s searching for answers, because she is not satisfied with just hearing what people in the Catholic church say. We gave her a New Testament and briefly shared the Gospel with her. I John 5:13 was helpful to let her know that she can have assurance of salvation. We encouraged her to read the book of John, and she may be open to someone coming back at a later date to talk with her more.

Please pray for Katrina and also Megan, a girl I talked to today in downtown Dublin during our outreach on the streets. Megan listened pretty attentively, and she said she might try reading the Bible for herself. I was also excited to meet two Christians on the street. One guy was handing out tracts himself, and we were able to encourage each other.

Elisa

Today as we went out to do some street ministry in downtown Dublin I met a man named Owen who is an atheist. It was an interesting conversation. I enjoyed talking to him and being challenged to go and study the bible further. He wanted a lot of evidence and he asked me to prove that God exists and to explain a ‘real’ reason as to why I believe what I believe. But I couldn’t convince him with anything I said. I just pray that God works in his heart and takes some things that we talked about and really ponders some things. We talked for about 30-40 minutes until he left in a hurry. About 10 minutes later he came back. That was really a great sign because it meant that our earlier conversation was effective in some way. At that time, it didn’t seem like he was thinking with a new mindset, but God truly is amazing and nothing is impossible with Him. I really believe that He’ll use our conversation to lead him to Himself. Just keep him in your prayers too please. Thanks!

Trinity

Encouraging Stories

2011-06-07T18:01:00.001+01:00

During our last day of door to door work in Waterford, Heidi and I paired up, and the Lord led us to two doors in particular. After about five doors we came to the home of a man named Patrick. We told him that we had distributed magazines a few days earlier and asked if he had received it and had a chance to look at it. He looked at us intently, smiled and said “Yes, it was brilliant!” His response was such a contrast to many of the responses we had heard earlier that day.

He then asked us if we would like to come in. Upon entering his home Heidi and I quickly learned that Patrick was a widower and had lost his wife to cancer nearly 4 years ago. He then shared with us that after reading the magazine he was inspired to go through some of his wife’s clothes and donate them to charity. He was really struggling with his decision and kept asking us if we thought he’d made the right decision.

He then continued to share about his wife and how hard it had been the last few years without her. We could see how broken this man was and Heidi and I really wanted to present him with a message of hope. We were able to share the Gospel with Patrick. He asked us questions, and we sat and talked with him for nearly an hour. He was really open to what we had to say, and we could tell that he really enjoyed the company. We left Patrick with words of hope, as well as the New Testament. Upon leaving he gave each of us a hug.

Please continue to pray for Patrick and his salvation. He is such a sweet man who has been struggling for nearly four years after the passing of his wife.

Shortly after our encounter with Patrick the Lord brought us to the home of a young man named Ronnie. He is a student preparing to take his leaving exams. We asked him some questions, and he was really open to talking with us. He shared with us that he didn’t really know where he stood when it came to religion or a relationship with Christ. He had heard the Gospel a few different times in various stages of his life. He also shared with us that he and his friends had been talking about Jesus and had watched the Passion of the Christ just a few weeks previously. He was a very polite, intelligent man. He listened to what we had to say and kept asking us some really hard questions. For nearly two hours we stood there talking to him, we were able to answer his questions with answers straight from the Bible. You could tell the longer we talked with him the more open he was becoming to what we were saying. We could just see that God was working on his heart.

We left Ronnie with a copy of the New Testament, and hopefully some answers. Pray for Ronnie and his salvation. You can see that he is genuinely interested in finding truth.

TIME FLIES!

2011-06-05T15:19:00.002+01:00

Back in Dublin!
And what a wonderful feeling it is. No more bed bugs or shower issues.
The team trip is quickly coming to an end unfortunately. Team leader Tim, or, in Jordan's case "papa Tim" has already headed home on Friday morning. We all miss him dearly.

Already we've continued delivering magaizines from when we first began the trip in the beginning of May. Lots of walking. The weather here has been spectacular. Apparently it's unusual that it gets this warm at this time of the year. Compared to our weather in both Newcastle West and Tramor, it's been really nice here.

The church is having a retreat this weekend for the long weekend. Many of the church members are here enjoying the fellowship and warm weather. We've (as in the team) have been helping out with setup for meals and cleanup and such. Helping out in any way we can. Our meetings or "sessions" have been grand. Ron has been leading the meetings in a devotion type setting about the book of Acts. By devotion, I mean that everyone is listening but can feel free to speak thoughts on certain things. It's a really great way to get involved and all bounce off each others' thoughts.

So far it feels like this trip has been going way too fast. But I guess that's why they say "time flies when you're having fun"

Trin and Stef.

Monday May 30th

2011-05-30T21:00:00.005+01:00

Today we distributed magazines and invitations to the gospel meeting in the morning. For the afternoon we went out on the doors which seemed a bit daunting at first because we haven't done it for a few days now and most on the team still feel a bit inesperienced (we could use some prayer for that- that God will give us boldness and the words to say to get good conversations going). A lot of us had quite a few discouraging interatctins with people who say "no thanks, we're catlic and we're happy with what we have, bye." or who challenge us and ask what we think we're doing showing up at their doors. But the neat thing is that there were some very open doors that we got along the way too :]

Some people who had great conversations and heard the gospel were Louise, Amy, Claire, 2 lesbien girls, Carl, Mary, and a handful of others. There were quite a few people who said that they would come to the gospel meeting on Sunday night. Carl is 30 has 6 months left to live and has decided he doesn't want God and will take the consiquences but his heart was touched and David said that we would pray for him. Mary had her 2 young children and dispite the distractions, listened very well for a good while and received some tracts and a CD "the uniqueness of Christianity." Louise also had a young girl with her and was against religion and a bit negetive at first but was greatly impacted by the gospel and hearing Heidi's testamony and talked for a long time. The two lesbien girls were very strong in their view of religion and God but were greatly challenged and could see the truth of what Heidi and Katie were saying about the Bible and by the end of the conversation promised that they would check out the books of John and Romans to see if they were right or wrong about the Bible.

Tim and Trinity's conversation with Claire would be the most encouraging of the whole day. As they first began talking they were invited in from the rain to have some tea and they stayed for at least two hours explaining the gospel. Tim says, "If it could be a scale of 0-5, 0 never hearing the gospel and 5 getting saved Claire would be a 4.9 as she listened intently for two hours. She said she wanted to get close to God and she wondered how she could get close to God and they went into the whole process of how she could know God and receive salvation."

It is exciting to see everyone learn about working as a team for evangelism. Over all, it was an encouraging day because there were some who heard the gospel and were responsive to it's truth. We would ask for continued prayers for strength. Each tough conversation and each good one leaves us a bit warn out.

Sunday May 29

2011-05-30T20:19:00.007+01:00

Heidi here- During Friday and Saturday's street evangelism there were three teenage girls who were very interested who were in a large group of kids who Trinity and I talked with. Their names are Shavan and Haylee and another who's name we forgot. I also spoke with three Muslim gentlemen and there was one who was very accepting and interested and he could see my genuine heart and he said he appreciated hearing about the gospel. I'd like it if you would pray for these people who had open ears to the gospel.

On Sunday the 29 Tim gave the message and the team was able to sing some special music for the assembly's morning church meeting. It was wonderful to meet more of the believers in the church and it was great to be an encouragement to them as a small assembly.
Later in the afternoon we went out and handed out some last minute invitations to the meeting and a few people wound up coming with us right on the spot. For the meeting our "tnt choir" sang Light of the World and Amazing Grace and Tim gave a powerful gospel message. There was a group of younger boys who were lined up in the front row. They got uncomfortable and left halfway through the message but Jordan felt God's leading that he should go after them. He jumped up and caught them outside the hotel where we were meeting and explained to them what Tim was getting at in his message. He says he's not sure how well they listened to him but he shared the gospel clearly.

Others who heard the gospel clearly and stayed back for at least an hour talking with us was an older Irish man named Michael, a single mom Eleanor and her two boys, an old bachelor named Ceiron, and a Bosnian guy named Jonathan. All had great conversations but the best change in demeanor was Eleanor who was very apprehensive at first and began to understand as our conversation went on. I was really able to share my faith with her.

Friday May 27

2011-05-30T20:09:00.003+01:00

The sun is shining, the town square is packed with people and the paint and brushes are ready. It’s a perfect day for open air preaching in Waterford. This was the day we woke up to on the 28th. It seemed that God had prepared a perfect day to go out and share the good news of His son with the Irish people, and that’s what we did. As a team we made our way down into the town square where people were spending their afternoons shopping and sitting in the sun. We began to set up our sketch board while we did our best to avoid the strange looks that people were giving us as they walked by. While Tim began preparing his sketch board message, we went into the streets and began handing out material and speaking to anyone who would lend us an ear. Then the time came to watch messages from both Tim and Ernie as they shared the gospel using paint and paper to speak of the eternal hope we have in Christ. Before long, many young people had gathered to both listen and mock us. This didn’t bother us too much however because it created some very good discussions. “How can we know God is real when we can’t see him?!” One teenager demanded loudly. “Do you believe the wind is real?” someone on the team responded, “You can’t see the wind, only the effects of it!” The young teenager had to stop and think about this answer. The team member continued: “We feel the effects of God through our lives, even though we don’t see Him!” This began an extremely positive discussion at the end of which, 5 bibles were given away! Connections were also made through facebook and email. Overall it was a very uplifting and positive experience and God was quite clearly with us.

Team bonding has been extremely important. We know that if we are not unified, we can’t do the work of the Lord properly. This is why it has been wonderful to have a team that not only works well together but enjoys each other’s company as well. One example of this was yesterday when we were listening to Irish music. In very North American fashion, we began doing our best Irish jigs. Most of us looked like marionettes flopping limply on a string but some weren’t that bad. The best of us was Ernie, who looked like a much older version of Michael Flatley. It was a very fun night.

-Jordan

On the Road Again....

2011-05-27T20:38:00.002+01:00

It's time to move on again. We wrapped up our stay at Newcastle West with two more days of kids club, delivering magazines, and witnessing door to door. We were sad to leave the church family there but are looking forward to new adventures in Waterford. Our first day in Waterford was spent delivering magazines and then witnessing downtown in the main square. We did different ministries there from handing out tracks and having conversations with people about the gospel to singing and using paint to explain the gospel to the crowds. We had many different responses from the locals. There were a few encouraging conversations, but sadly, most seemed turned off by the gospel and would run off the minute Jesus' name was mentioned in the messages. One person in the square completely rejected the literature just because it had something to do with God. Others would stay just to mock what we said or believed. I pray that those who stayed to mock, listened to what we had to say and that they would come to Christ. Please pray that the team would continue to be bold even through these kinds of responses as we are going to be in the square again tomorrow.

Also keep in your prayers the plumbing in the house we are now living in. For some reason the water is not really working as it should, and the plumber does not know why.

Thank you to all the people at home who are praying and following the blog at home. We greatly appreciate everything you all do!

-Stefanie

2011-05-24T20:36:00.000+01:00

Welcome Heidi.

2011-05-24T19:47:00.003+01:00

This morning we awoke to a beautiful sunny day. We all met in the living room at the cheery hour of 8:45 am. Ernie shared his testimony, and Art led a devotional on John chapter 4. After that we distributed more 4U magazines to Dromcolligher and stopped by the remains of a nearby castle and a local Donkey Sanctuary. When we returned back to the house we cooked lunch and welcomed Heidi. We are so thankful that she arrived safely in Ireland, and now our team is finally complete. After lunch some started preparing for our second day of children's club, while others prepared to do door to door ministry. On the door to door time we encountered many different responses . Some were not open at all, while others were really interested in what we had to say. One person Claire in particular was really interested and wanted us to come back. While half the team did the doors the other half were busy doing children's club which went very well. The team was very encouraged as there were quite a few more kids who came today. It was great to be able to present the gospel to the children and to see how much they enjoyed the songs and the Bible lesson. Then to finish off the evening we all went to Burnett's for a lovely dinner.

Prayer Requests:
Please pray for Claire, the woman we met today who was really open to the gospel.
Also pray for a last successful day doing children's club tomorrow.

Thank you for your prayers and support!

2011-05-23T20:51:00.000+01:00

ANOTHER DAY IN THE LIFE!!

2011-05-23T20:13:00.005+01:00

Our day began with a team morning meeting. We spent time in prayer, praise, in the word, and one of our team members shared their testimony. Its great to get together before the day starts to dedicate the day to God and ask him to be in control of each situation we will have with the Irish people that day.

Then we set out to small towns surrounding New Castle West to deliver more ''4You'' magazines.

This afternoon some of the team went door-to-door to spread the gospel to different neighbourhoods

in New Castle West. Fortunately, most of the door-to-door experiences were better than the last time.

At one door, two team members spoke to one man who believed his good works and regular church

attendance would get him to heaven. They questioned his strategy with what the bible says, and after

about a 15 minute conversation, the team members left the man contemplating the gospel and holding

a book entitled ''Ultimate Questions''.

The other team members took part in a kids club this afternoon. There was about seven to eight kids with whom

we had the opportunity to teach a bible lesson, sing songs, play games, and teach a bible verse.

The lesson was well received and the kids seemed to enjoy themselves.

As far as praise reports: We are thankful for the successful door-to-door evangelism today and for the seed

of the gospel that was planted.

Prayer requests:

- That people receive the gospel well during door-to-door tomorrow.

- That the kids club goes well tomorrow.

- Pray for good weather! Sun and heat. :)

- Pray for energy and joy for the team.

THANKS!

-Katie.

Debut at Ireland fair

2011-05-22T21:48:00.003+01:00

The Irish people are very cordial, but it has been difficult to engage them in personal conversations relating to anything spiritual. Yesterday was our first day of door-to-door ministry, and although there were a few good conversations with people, it was pretty frustrating.

This morning, we sang special music at church, and three team members taught the children's Sunday school class. After lunch, we attended an Irish fair to help with the church's booth (face painting, handing out literature, etc.). Near the end, we had a chance to sing for everyone--a band playing/singing for most of the fair gave us some time with the microphones, so we had our Ireland debut :).

Praise the Lord that Jordan encountered a man yesterday who was very interested in the gospel magazine we were distributing.
Please pray for dry weather and continued strength. We have very busy, long days and need a lot of energy to work well together.

Elisa

2011-05-21T16:08:00.003+01:00

Team member Jordan Evans sharing the devotional at the Shankill Bible Church's mid-week prayer meeting.

Ireland Welcomes the Queen! How about the Team?

2011-05-21T15:05:00.011+01:00

The TnT Team arrived in Ireland to begin almost 4 weeks of outreach this past Tuesday, the very same day Queen Elizabeth II arrived to spend 4 days visiting the Emerald Isle.

(The photo shows the queen being shown the Book of Kells at Trinity College, Dublin which is a 1200 year old ornately illustrated Celtic copy of the the four gospels)

The arrival of the queen was momentous as this was the first visit of a reigning British monarch to Ireland in 100 years. While this queen has spanned the globe over her 85 years, it has never been considered possible for her to set foot in this country just off the west coast of Britain. Even now, her visit has resulted in the largest security operation ever seen on this island.

For some 800 years until this past century Ireland was under the rule of the British monarch and there has never been an acceptance of that fact on the part of the large majority of the Irish. 800 years of unrest and rebellion culminated in the regular sounds of bombs and bullets from the 1960s until this past decade. The effect of this queen's visit is already making a difference in Ireland. She announced that the Irish and the British are now "firm friends and equal partners". Significantly the queen also frankly offered, "With the benefit of historical hindsight we can all see things which we would wish had been done differently -- or not at all." The reality of a lasting peace is now sensed by many in Ireland and the UK.

How about the 2011 arrival of the TnT Team? While not on the level of the welcome received by a visiting monarch, first the saints in Shankill, Co Dublin and now in Newcastle West, Co Limerick have warmly welcomed the following team members: Tim Hood (BC); Heidi Koppen (IA); Art Cavenagh (MB); Ernie Imken (NY); Stephanie Perkins (GA); Katie Doolan (MB); Noelle Cottom (OH); Elisa Cooper (IA); Trinity Yarish (MB); and Jordan Evans (MB).

Paul the apostle quoted in Romans 10:15, "How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!" PLEASE PRAY that as a result of the team's visit to Ireland there will many who are reconciled to God, who will experience peace with God, through trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul then goes on to say in verse 17, "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." There will be much sowing of God's Word over the next three weeks: 30,000 4YOU.ie gospel magazines, hundreds of other tracts, scores of New Testaments, not to mention the public preaching that will take place in buildings, on the streets and in parks across the south of Ireland.

Whatever the impact of the queen's visit, we know the team's visit will have an eternal one!

A Long Walk - Newcastle West, Co Limerick

2011-05-20T17:56:00.001+01:00

The team is almost all here! Two more of our team members arrived late last night, and we're settling into our new house. This morning, we met together for a time of worship and devotions before specific preparations for our ministry. We spent about two hours delivering gospel magazines to neighborhoods in Newcastle West. It was quite a walk, so we were thankful for dry, sunny weather. We put most of the magazines in mail slots, but occasionally we met someone in their garden. The Irish people are really gracious and friendly and were happy to take the magazine. It makes us somewhat excited although still somewhat apprehensive about going door to door. Please pray for us to not be afraid but have confidence in the Lord to work through us. This evening we ate dinner together with some of the local believers--we have enjoyed getting to know them, and they will be leading us in local ministry for next several days.

We are excited about the rest of the trip, but we would appreciate your prayers for stamina and unity as some are tired in adjusting to a new environment and schedule.

Until next time!

Elisa

DREAM COME TRUE!

2011-05-18T21:51:00.004+01:00

Arrived in Ireland. Wow! What a beautiful country. We arrived here and the first thing I noticed was the accent. That's when it hit me: I'm in Ireland!! (which is a dream come true by the way).

We've met some really great people so far. We were taken around Dublin on a grand tour hosted by two of the guys or 'lads' as they'd call them here, from the church. It was fantastic! Already I feel totally welcomed and at home here. I'm so excited for what God has in store for our team. Lately we've been taking evening walks which are lovely. There's a nearby village Shankill that we've been spending a lot of time in buying the delicious chocolate they have here and then we sometimes take a walk down to the beach which is also very near. Now I'm making it sound like it's all fun and games. Which it definitely is.

But apart from touring around and exploring, we've also spent some time going out and slipping the gospel magazines into the mailboxes of the neighborhood houses. And we've also spent a portion of the day learning about Ireland's history and beliefs. Ireland is so far everything I'd hoped for it to be and more. And I know that God has an amazing plan for our team and what's next to come. Tomorrow we head for Newcastle West, Co Limerick to work with the Burnetts, Shanks and the Newcastle West Bible Fellowship.

Trinity Y

The LORD Has Provided!

2011-05-04T20:04:00.002+01:00

For the past several years we have been trusting the Lord to provide tens of thousands of copies of the Irish gospel magazine, 4YOU.ie. This is a 16-page, full-colour glossy magazine that is packed with relevant, interesting and challenging articles explaining the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Again this year, through a donation from an organization in Canada, 30,000 of these magazines will be distributed throughout the Republic of Ireland via TnT Teams. 16,000 will go out in the city of Waterford alone.

We continue to trust the Lord for His provision for all the other expenses associated with this year's outreach. Please pray with us.

As God's Word goes out, remember: "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." Romans 10:17

Ireland 2011

2011-05-04T19:48:00.002+01:00

Only two weeks to go!

This year's team members are only two weeks away from arriving in Dublin, Ireland to begin what will be almost a month of intensive orientation, training, evangelistic outreach and ministry to Irish believers and assemblies. I know that some will be becoming increasingly fretful and even fearful re this whole experience from making sure they have everything they need, to traveling overseas, meeting a whole lot of new people with whom they're going to be living at close quarters, fellowshipping with Christians and churches they’re unfamiliar with; being involved in door to door and open air evangelism. No doubt there are even some that might be thinking, “What have I got myself into?”

This is a good time for us to pray for those who have taken this step of faith. It is a good time for the team members to be reminded that it is the Lord who has led them to this decision. It is a good time to be reminded from the scriptures that the best antidote for fear is faith. When faith soars fear sinks! We do well to remember the words of the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9 “And He (the LORD) said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Isn’t it great to know God will use even our weakness as we trust Him. I believe one of the reasons we have enjoyed such blessing year by year is that our teams are made up of saints who are fearful yet faithful in the Lord’s strength.

It is important to be reminded about the Lord Jesus as He commissions His disciples in a very applicable passage in Matthew 28:16 “Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. 17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.”” Simply put, as the Lord Jesus sends His disciples to teach and testify, He assures them of His power and presence. All the 2011 TnT Team members can be assured of the same.

The Lord has blessed us with 10 team members so far who will be joining us for all or a part of the mission including 4 who have worked with TnT Teams in previous years. We continue to pray for some additional help. This means we will have only one team that will work in three different areas of the country: Co Dublin, Co Limerick and Co Waterford. They will be working with national believers, workers and missionaries who are experienced in evangelism and ministering the Word. For everyone but especially our first-timers fear will give way to faith and this "trusting the Lord" will be the key to what is accomplished for eternity.

Please pray for these team members as they prepare, as they travel starting May 13th, and as they serve the Lord in Ireland, some until June 25th.

Fruit Will Come

2010-07-03T15:58:00.001+01:00

It was great to have the whole team once again to come down to the Rathnew traveller/gypsy site, where last year's TnT Team had led a teen girl to the LORD. They were able to see her again this year, and her sisters, two of which have subsequently come to the Lord.

We hope to have the future teams every year to be encouraged as they come to the traveller site and see Mary blossoming as a believer, and hopefully other fruit will come also!!

Jim and Kathy Moriarty

Ron's Message to Team

2010-06-18T15:05:00.003+01:00

Dear 2010 TnT'rs

Even though I wasn’t involved directly with the team this year while you were in Ireland, please know from all the reports I’ve received, the team has been successful in accomplishing the good work of encouraging and building up believers and assemblies in Ireland along with the missionaries and national workers. You have also accomplished the good work of evangelism as you have distributed the magazines and NTs, and personally been a witness at the doors, on the street, and at the kids clubs. While it is the Lord who will reward you, I want to personally express our thanks to you for being willing to take the steps of faith that brought you to Ireland in the first place and the ones you’ve had to take day by day while you’ve been there.

The Lord Jesus told His disciples in John 15:16, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit --fruit that will last.” As we know from the context this verse doesn’t speak about salvation but rather of serving the Saviour. I trust that you have truly sensed that it was indeed the Lord who led you to get involved this year. I trust that as you obeyed the Lord in going with the gospel throughout that you have been encouraged by the immediate and visible fruit that you have seen. Please know that the greater fruit of all this serving and sowing, the “fruit that will last” will only be really understood and appreciated as it’s revealed to you in eternity.

And as I’ve already said, it is the Lord who will bring His abundant reward for faithful service and eternal fruit with Him. In the meanwhile, I trust you already have a sense of being rewarded not only through the response to the work you have done, but also through the relationships you have experienced with your fellow team members, Irish believers and the missionaries.

Six years ago following the visit of the team that year, Leonard Carolan emailed me the following that I’m sure he would echo again this year: “It was something that I couldn’t emphasize enough to the team when they were here. The team members themselves could never fully realize how appreciated the yearly visit is and how people were fired up for Christ by their coming. The effect is unbelievable, such an encouragement. I know, as I’m one of the encouraged! The arrival of the TNT crew is anticipated months before and remembered years after.”

I have no doubt that you have appreciated the extra service Brian, Heidi and Len have provided as they have accepted leadership roles and especially Brian as he’s driven you around Ireland. I want to thank them as well along with Jim and Frank, and everyone who has had to take on more as a result of me not being there. I also have no doubt that you have been overwhelmed by the generous hospitality of your hosts in every place where you have gone. God is indeed good, isn’t He!

I trust you have a memorable last night together with each other, the saints and the missionaries. As you return to your homes remember to water with prayer all the seed that has been sown trusting the Lord for the increase. As you return to your home assemblies, recount with joy the good work the Lord has accomplished in you and through you and don’t discount the possibility that you might be called upon to provide fresh vision and leadership for evangelism in your area. Don’t forget to thank those who faithfully supported and prayed for you. As they have expressed their partnership with you, be sure to share with them the results of that faithfulness.

Again, my thanks to each one of you for your participation in the 2010 TnT Team outreach. We trust the Lord will lead you to consider re-upping in years to come (see Ernie, Joan, Heidi and Brian for details).

Every blessing
Ron

Team Trip + Dinner @ Shanganagh

2010-06-16T19:08:00.002+01:00

The team set off from Waterford around 9am and headed down to the New Ross coast and toured the Dunbrody replica sail ship. After lunch in Arklow, our journey resumed with a stop in Glendalough; where the team toured the 8th century monastery there. This was followed with a scenic drive through the Sally gap, after which the team arrived back at Shanganagh bible chapel for a special dinner courtesy of our assembly hosts. God willing, 8 of the 10 team members will be flying out tommorow morning, and the remaining 2 on Friday morning. Pray for journey mercies as the team heads home!

Thank you to everyone who has faithfully followed the blog and has been praying for the team as they helped out with the assemblies here in Ireland. Special thanks to Ron Hampton for coordinating from afar, and everyone else who worked behind the scenes (the Lord knows who you are) to make this trip a success. To God be the glory, great things He has done!

-Josh George, filling in for Brian Kramer

Doors+Magazines

2010-06-15T22:50:00.002+01:00

After breakfast the team headed out for another couple hours of magazine delivery in the Waterford area, and after lunch continued with door to door work. Offering the free DVD turned out to be a good entry point for bringing up questions of faith, and the groups of two that went out all had a measure of good conversations with the locals. All in all, another productive day, and the Lord provided with good weather. This wrapped up our last day of officially ministry work in Ireland, and the faithfulness of God showed itself throughout our stay here in Waterford. Tommorow, God willing, the team will return to Dublin and the Shanganagh assembly, and wrap up our stay here. Pray for journey mercies!

Street Evangelism, Gospel meeting, Door to door work

2010-06-14T17:38:00.003+01:00

The past three days have been filled with activity for the team as we have moved into the home stretch of our time here in Ireland. On Saturday, after another morning of distributing the 4You magazines, the team hit the streets of the Waterford downtown core for the second afternoon in a row to strike up conversations and hand out tracts.

A number of notable conversations included one Victor had with a gentleman fundraising for the SPCA, who was an evolutionist by persuasion, but was open minded and was found to be receptive; and graciously recieved gospel literature that catered to the scientific mind. Callie and Josh had a couple of good conversations, particularly with teenagers who were spending their day off school in the square; two girls, Jane and Kelly, were especially interested in what the Bible had to say about Jesus and the significance of His death. Their religious upbringing made them extremely receptive to the truths of scripture, and they were left with alot to think about and reading material that outlined the simple concepts of the Gospel and what it means to humanity. In the meantime, as Brian was sitting in the square working on his Gospel message for Sunday evening, a woman by the name of Christina sat by him, and after striking up conversation with her, Brian soon found out that her husband had passed away about five years ago from multiple sclerocis, a disease that one of Brian's family members' had suffered from in the past. It was made very apparent that their meeting wasnt an accident! They were able to talk briefly about the Gospel, and she was invited out to Sunday's Gospel meeting, but said she wouldnt be able to make it because of a time conflict. These were just a handful of the promising dialogues that were had over the course of Saturday afternoon; and we would request that you would remember Jane, Kelly, and Christina in your prayers as the truth that they heard would take root.

Sunday morning, the team broke bread at Waterford Christian Assembly, and in the Family Bible Hour, Leonard Carolan shared from the word about prayer. Leonard had to leave soon after the meeting, and his presence will be missed as the team continues its work here in Waterford. On Sunday evening, Waterford Christian Assembly had rented out a conference room in the Dooley's hotel, and held an open Gospel meeting for the public. Invitations for this meeting had been handed out the previous two days, and four people turned up for the 8 oclock session. It began with David taking favorites for songs, followed by a special number by Heidi, and finally the message from Brian. During the course of the message, a fellow in the back, Guiness in hand, became very vocal with his questions, mentioning his Catholic upbringing and asking what Brian was trying to get at with the message. God be thanked, Brian kept his cool as he answered the man's questions, and was able to finish the message as planned; but not before the man had gone up and left, shaking his head. Pray for this man! His name also happens to be Brian! Whether he left out of disinterest or true conviction, what he heard that evening was the truth; so the rest is left to the work of the Holy Spirit. The others that came stayed for a good while and talked amongst the various team members. Good conversations were had over tea; in the meantime Victor was out in the streets striking up dialogues with passerby in the downtown core. Alot of literature was given out in this time.

Today (Monday), the 4You magazines were again delivered in the morning, and the first round of door to door work in the Waterford area ensued after lunchtime. Part of the work here includes the offering of the Jesus: Fact or Fiction DVD, free for a three week borrowing period, after which an assembly member comes to pick it up with no obligation. The DVD includes the Jesus film (most historically accurate film about the life of Jesus in existence), as well as bonus features that look at Christianity in an apologetic light (with interviews with Josh mcdowell and Ravi zacharias).

Tommorow, God willing, will be the teams last ministry day in Waterford, and will be following the same pattern as today's activities. Pray for focus for the team and boldness as they hit the doors again tommorow. Thank you to all that have been faithfully following the team's activities so far, and for the prayers and support thereof. God bless!

-Josh George, filling in for brian kramer

Pictures from Waterford and Tramore

2010-06-11T21:26:00.002+01:00

Victor and Heidi discussing Islam and sharing the gospel with some young men from Lebanon, in Waterford City Centre.
Josh (above) and Victor (below) sharing from the Word at the Waterford Christian Assembly midweek meeting.

Our accommodations in Tramore.

Trip to Waterford and Street evangelism

2010-06-11T18:32:00.005+01:00

Yesterday (Thursday), the team set out from Dublin after a light breakfast and headed down to Waterford. We arrived just after 12 noon and touched base with David Wilson, who brought us up to speed as to the work that will be taking place over the course of the next five days. After a much needed time of rest, the team headed over to Waterford Christian Assembly for the Thursday night prayer meeting. After a time of prayer, Victor and Josh both shared from the word. Victor spoke on the importance of Christian character in our witness, and Josh talked about the eternal security of a believer.

Today (Friday) began with breakfast and a devotion led by David on 1 Thessalonians, after which the team headed out to begin the job of delivering the 4You magazine to the Waterford area. After lunch the team headed out to Waterford city centre to begin some rather informal street evangelism, approaching people going about their business in the downtown core with tracts and literature, and striking up conversations while they were at it. The team was in good spirits with the number of good contacts and good conversations that were had pertaining to the gospel. Two Lebanese muslims in particular conversed with Heidi and Victor for well over an hour, and the talk left for good grounds for follow up. As Fridays and Saturdays are the busiest for the Waterford downtown core, the team plans, God willing, on returning to the same place tommorow and continuing their work there. Pray for boldness and endurance for the team members as they approach people in the streets, and as the trip winds down to its last four days of ministry work on Irish soil. Pray for the houses to which the magazines were delivered and that hearts would be opened up to the glorious news of the Gospel!

-Josh George, filling in for Brian Kramer

Kids' Club pictures

2010-06-10T06:57:00.003+01:00

Iveth and Joan with Praveen Jose at the Gleesons.

Learning the memory verse - Kids' Club, Shankill.

The puppets tell the Bible story - Kids' Club, Shankill.

The "parachute" is a great draw at Kids' Club!

Doors and Kids Club

2010-06-09T22:10:00.005+01:00

Regina and Darwin joined the team for breakfast in the morning, and after a time of prayer and devotional from Brian, we headed back out into the neighborhood, picking up where we left off from yesterday's door to door ministry.

Heidi and Victor had a long conversation with a man by the name of Rob, a passive fellow, who discussed evil and suffering in the world, and how these instances point towards a God, as a result of sin. Rob promised to read the literature that he was left with and expressed genuine interest to find out more about the Bible's answers to lifes questions. They also spoke to a man by the name of David, who was selling electricity contracts in the neighbourhood, who was 100% certain that there was such a thing as absolute truth, that there was a God and he was wanting answers. After a brief discussion of the biblical infidelity in the Catholic church, and being visibly excited of finding out more about what the Bible has to say about the three questions (1. where did we come from, 2. why are we here, 3. where are we going), he was left with the 4You magazine and contact information. Remember these two individuals in your prayers!

Josh and Darwin chanced upon two separate born again women in their allotment of the neighborhood, both of whom had husbands who aren't currently walking with the Lord. Darwin was able to share from his experiences and provide words of encouragement. The second woman who they met just so happened to be leaving her home, headed to Glenmaris to inquire about a tree at the edge of the building's property that was blocking shade in her back yard. She invited them in for coffee, and they soon found out that she was a Methodist woman, who had been raised in the Brethren church. Her husband, Victor, 91, (able bodied and not looking a day over 80) was of the same Brethren upbringing, but as he himself expressed, didn't believe or like to discuss religion. But as the conversation progressed, it appeared that Christianity was all he could talk about; and he surprised them with his memory, as he recounted events in his life that simply could not be explained by coincidence, and Darwin joined in along the same line of talk. The wife concluded, as they left for lunch, that it was no accident that they had met and Josh and Darwin were inclined to agree. Pray for Victor!

After lunch, the team distributed a few more sets of the 4you magazines to unreached neighborhoods, and began Kids Club at 4 in the afternoon. The weather had shaped up and the team enjoyed a solid turnout of kids from the neighborhood, and the games (Victor, Heidi, Sheelagh), puppet show story (Josh and Callie), and memory verse teaching (Iveth, Joan, Heidi) proceeded smoothly by the grace of God. A definitive answer to prayer! Praise the Lord.

After activities wrapped up with the Kid's Club, the team enjoyed dinner in the evening at the Gleeson's residence.

Thank you to everyone the world over who has been following the blog and has been faithfully praying. The team, God willing, will be heading down to Waterford in the morning to begin the week's ministry there, so pray for journey mercies and endurance for the team as they shift gears!

-Josh George, filling in for Brian Kramer

Photos from the travelers and a birthday

2010-06-08T22:19:00.006+01:00

Tommy playing "Amazing Grace" for the group.

Joan talking to Scott at the travelers' site.

Group shot at the travelers.

Heidi sings for two of the traveler girls.

Celebrating Frank Carolan and Danny Gleeson's 60th birthdays during the Shanganagh Bible Church retreat. Hard to believe Danny is that old!

[Reposted] Retreat concludes + Magazine delivery + Visit to the travellers

2010-06-08T19:01:00.010+01:00

The morning (Monday) began with another hearty breakfast courtesy of Shanganagh Bible Church, followed by Dr. Van Dine's conclusion to his session in the book of Romans. The weekend's meetings covered all of chapters 6 through 8. After lunch we finished delivery of the 4You magazines to the remaining areas in our allotment here in the Shankill area, and at 4 in the afternoon started up Kids Club on a nearby green. The weather was rainy, and didn't make for the best conditions for a big turnout from the neighborhood. The three local girls that showed up, however, enjoyed a brief time of games, led by the team. After about twenty minutes, and the weather showing no signs of immediate improvement, the team retired to the Shanganagh assembly building.

Later on, the team went over for dinner at the Moriarty's residence (Jim + Kathy), and after good food and fellowship, paid a visit to a nearby traveler's (gypsies) encampment just outside of Rathnew, Co Wicklow. It was quite the experience for all the team members, as we were struck with not only the warming hospitality of the travelers, but their receptivity and questions regarding the Gospel.

A traveler by the name of Tommy invited us into his trailer home as soon as the team arrived on site (we had met Tommy at dinner at the Moriarty's place). After we had all taken a seat, and had made small talk (Tommy was visibly comfortable with his cigarettes and Guinness within hands reach, reclined on the sofa), the team broke out into song with Heidi leading onto the guitar. Both Tommy and one of the fellows staying with him, Scott, graciously listened as Brian spoke on the words from the song "In Christ Alone", explaining the simple Gospel concepts in the chorus. Also seated in the living room was Mary (a traveler girl, 12 years old who was saved on a similar TnT excursion last year), Katlyn (8), and Ciara (10), and they listened earnestly during the singing and as Brian spoke. Afterward, Iveth shared her testimony, followed by Joan, Victor, and Callie later on. Whether it was out of politeness or genuine interest, the travelers appeared to be listening intently and had many questions after the team had shared. The atmosphere was extremely casual in nature, and conversations were going left right and center, all pertaining to scripture. During all the talk, another traveler by the name of Michael arrived after an 8 hour drive from Belfast, and despite his visible weariness joined right in with the conversations that were had.

To start, Heidi was involved in an intense discourse with the girls Katlyn and Ciara, and was also encouraged to learn that Mary who professed Christ as Saviour last June was continuing on for the Lord, despite being alone in the faith amongst the turmoil of family and the gypsy lifestyle for the past year. Heidi noted that the bible that was given to Mary last year was worn and looked like it had been read quite a bit. She also told us that Mary had been scorned by those around her for the faith she appears to proudly cling to. Ciara was visibly excited by all the things she had seen and heard from the informal meeting that had just taken place in the living room of the trailer, and was absolutely pelting Heidi with questions as Heidi led her through scripture and the biblical means of salvation. After a long talk, Ciara excitedly expressed her wanting to be saved, and the girl Katlyn made a similar plea. Ciara spoke of getting a tract from her trailer that she had which outlined the 'sinners prayer' that she could pray that would do the job. Heidi strongly advised against this, suggesting to Ciara that there wasn't any set of specific statement one could read off a paper to come to God. Heidi simply told Ciara to believe on the Lord Jesus, and to express this faith in a prayer from her own heart. Ciara and Katlyn both made a profession of faith last night, and there was excitement written all over their faces as Iveth told them that the angels in heaven were rejoicing over the occassion. It truly was an encouraging sight to witness, and the prayer going round was that Ciara and Katlyns profession was founded on a simple, saving faith, and not the emotions of the moment. The amazing fact of the matter was that Mary, Katlyn and Ciara don't live at the Rathnew site, as they were only visiting. They were all supposed to have left town earlier in the afternoon, but decided to stay one more night. Truly amazing!

In the meantime, Brian was engaged in a deep discussion with Scott, who had made a profession two years ago, but in his own words, had fallen away as a result of events in his life that had caused him to blame God. Scott's mom is dying of cancer, and feels God is punishing his mom for what he has done in his life. His claim was he wanted nothing to do with God, but the fact that he sat and listened and talked for as long as he did about spiritual matters seemed to suggest otherwise. His biggest issue was with the concept of forgiveness, and a lot of the problem was that he was beating himself up over the the wrong in his life, as much of this may have had to do with his Catholic upbringing and his perception of wrongdoing and blame. Brian prayed with him, and left him with a Gospel of John to read. Scott also struck up conversation with Joan and Josh, Joan who empathized with Scott's cancer in the family, and was able to share words and scriptures of consolation.

As this was all happening, Ernie was having a talk with a thirteen year old, Gary, who was also in the trailer the whole time, and was given a bible by Joan, who remembered him from the TnT Team's excursion last year. Ernie guided him through the basic concepts of scripture and showed him how he should go about reading through the gospels, he also answered the many questions Gary had about the bible.

While all this was going on, Victor was engaging Michael (who is married and has a child) in conversation concerning the reason for suffering and evil in the world. Joan and Iveth went over various scripture with him. He had a lot to share from his own experience and despite having the a rough and tough exterior, and a past of alcoholism and drug use, he was very calm and gracious, and intently listened to what was shared by the team.

Overall the reception was overwhelming, and it was quite the work of God that was witnessed last night in Rathnew. For all that are following the blog, the team requests prayers for all those that were spoken to, and especially for Katlyn and Ciara, that they would bear fruit and continue steadfastly in Jesus Christ, amidst the difficulties of gypsy life. Also pray for improvement in the weather, so that the kids club can operate in ideal conditions, and that there would be a good turnout for that ministry. Doors were knocked this morning and will be continued to be knocked tomorrow...continue to pray in this regard, both for the hearts of the residents and for the team as they handle rejection and/or are given the opportunity to share the Gospel. A number of good conversations have been had already this morning, and we are hoping for more receptivity in the days to come.

Thursday, the team leaves for Waterford to begin our work their. Pray for journeying mercies and for a smooth transition, as shifting gears in the work is always difficult.

-Josh George, filling in for Brian Kramer

TNT Ireland 2010 Team Photo

2010-06-08T08:14:00.004+01:00

The TnT Team, with Darwin and Regina Gleeson, outside Glenmaris House, home of the Shanganagh Bible Church, in Shankill, Co Dublin.

SBC Retreat continues

2010-06-06T23:16:00.007+01:00

The team broke bread this morning with the members of Shanganagh Bible Church, and after a time of worship, Dr. Van Dine continued his session in the book of Romans and the concept of resurrection living.

After another spectacular lunch, a few of the team joined up with a handful of assembly members and went out to the Sugar Loaf, a mountain just ten minutes from our lodgings here in Glenmaris house. The trail was about a half hour hike up from the car-park, and the summit offered a beautiful panoramic view of the surrounding towns, not to mention the nearby Irish sea.

The day served as a time to recharge the batteries and unwind before the pace picks up in the days to follow, God willing. It was a time of good food and good fellowship.

The team traveled out to Bray, a neighboring town about ten minutes away, to a small assembly there (which has been in existence since before the second world war), where Brian was given the opportunity to share from the pulpit from the book of Acts, along with a special number sung by Heidi, and Josh sharing his testimony. It was an encouraging time for both parties and the team will be returning on Tuesday night for their weekly bible study, God willing.

The team returned to the Shanganagh church just as Jim wrapped up his second to last session in the book of Romans, having finished up to the midpoint of Chapter 8. Soon after, both the team and the assembly enjoyed a special time of worship and heard a number of testimonies and encouraging stories that truly lifted the spirits, and did the job of setting our sights and hearts on the work that is laid out before us, in Jesus name.

Tomorrow, God willing, Kid's club will start up. This as well as some additional magazine delivery and the first round of door to door work here in the Shankill area. Jim will also be finishing up his sessions in Romans and the hope for the team is to pay a visit to the gypsies (also known as 'travellers'), and get involved in any way we can on this rather interesting evangelical front. In all these areas, prayers are requested, that all would be done in the strength of Christ, and not by the arm of flesh.

-Josh George, filling in for Brian Kramer

Weekend with Shanganagh Bible Church

2010-06-06T07:48:00.003+01:00

Victor outside Dublin Castle

Josh and Victor at the Islam info booth in Dublin

Shanganagh Bible Church enjoying a meal together outside Glenmaris House, the assembly's new home, during its annual retreat

Welcoming Ivett Bustillo, our new team member - we're glad she finally made it!

Dr. Van Dine speaking on Romans 6-8 during the SBC retreat

S.B.C meetings + Downtown excursion

2010-06-05T21:09:00.003+01:00

Resuming the weekend retreat, the team joined with assembly members at Shanganagh Bible Church this morning for a 'full' Irish breakfast complete with authentic blood pudding. After a time of fellowship, Jim Van Dine continued his thought provoking study in the book of Romans, covering the first part of chapter 6.

A light lunch of soup and sandwiches followed, after which the team (along with a few of the assembly members) disembarked to the Dublin downtown core, in the hopes of joining up with Vincent for some street evangelism. An unexpected change of plans found ourselves walking to the Chester Beatty museum instead, where the world's largest manuscript collection of the Pauline epistles are found on display (dating back to around 100 AD). On the way the team was able to strike up a number of conversations in the hustle and bustle of downtown, and a number of tracts were also distributed to passers by.

After our visit to the museum, and a stroll through Trinity College campus, the team headed back to the church building for supper, after which another 100 leaflets promoting the Kid's Club were distributed to the neighborhood immediately surrounding the church.

Jim ended off the day with another session in Romans, covering the rest of Chapter 6.

God be thanked, another member was added to the TNT team, Yvette, who arrived this morning, safe and sound, and has already been out on our excursions. She has an eager spirit and is a valuable addition to the team!

Your prayers would be appreciated as, God willing, the Kid's club will be starting up on Monday, and will go for an hour every afternoon till Friday. 600 leaflets were delivered to the Shankill area, so a fair turnout is expected. Also remember the residents to whose doors we will be knocking in the days to come, following up on the 4you magazines that were put out Friday afternoon. Pray that hearts would be prepared, and that there would be those that are ready to be engaged in conversations of a spiritual nature.

-Josh George

A good day in Shankill...

2010-06-04T17:35:00.003+01:00

We just returned from distributing 500 invitations to next week's Kids' Club here in Shankill, along with over 1000 Ireland 4You magazines. Even with just six of us to distribute, we are so thankful that the Lord helped us to cover the areas requested by Frank Carolan: Holly Park, Clanmawr, Rathsallagh Grove, Clifton Park, Eaton Wood Grove, and Shanganagh Cliffs estates, as well as a neighborhood in the heart of Shankill surrounding the seniors' center where the Shanganagh Bible Church used to be.

The Lord blessed us with a beautiful day for the work; please pray with us that many will read the magazines and respond to the free Bible/literature offers, and that many children will come to the Kids' Club on the "green" starting on Monday.

It isn't necessarily "fun" to letterbox "NO JUNK MAIL" doors and to have the magazine thrown in your face, but how minor that is compared to what so many of our brothers and sisters are suffering around the world!

Letterboxing in Shankill

2010-06-04T17:29:00.002+01:00

Ernie, Callie and Heidi letterboxing Ireland 4You magazines and invitations to next week's Kid's Club in Shankill.

Team trip and journey to Dublin

2010-06-03T21:11:00.007+01:00

Yesterday (Wednesday), the team enjoyed a day to unwind. Accompanied by Colin Burnett, we traveled to the south western coast of the country, to Dingle Bay where, with God's provision of beautiful weather, we briefly hiked the hillside of the Atlantic coastline. After a tour of Muckross House, and a dinner in Killarney, and a stop by Ladies View on the way back to Newcastle West, the team settled back down for our last night in Newcastle West.

This morning, we packed our bags and readied for our departure from Newcastle west. Our week stay there was a huge encouragement to us, and the members of the local assembly there assured us the feeling was mutual. Continue to pray for the seeds that were sown in that town, as there were a number of good receptions and conversations had over the last few days, and Gospel literature distributed that would make for fertile ground on which the Spirit would work in the hearts of those who are interested and/0r seeking.

After saying our goodbyes, we left NCW for Dublin, leaving behind our new friends and shifting our focus to the work that is ahead of us in the Capital. After a three hour journey we arrived safe and sound at Glenmaris House, Shankill, the home of the Shanganagh assembly, where we enjoyed good food and good fellowship with Penny DeFouw and Frank & Grace Carolan, and got brought up to speed as to what the next few days have in store. First on the list is stamping and delivering the 4You magazines to the surrounding neighborhood, followed by door 2 door ministry in the days to come. Remember the team and the assembly workers here in your prayers as we get the literature out and strike up conversations of a spiritually pressing nature with the residents here in Dublin. Pray for the opening of Colossians 4 doors, that the Spirit could work and that we would be prepared to give an answer for the faith which we have! Pray that we would graciously deal with rejection and that our witness would be God-honoring and Christ-like.

-Josh George, filling in for Brian

Rose shares her testimony with the team

2010-06-01T22:50:00.002+01:00

Tonight we had dinner at Rose's (one of the ladies in the NCW assembly), who shared her testimony with us. She has had a difficult life, but despite three years meeting with the Jehovahs Witnesses, she realized their teaching contradicted God's Word and she rejected it for the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Tuesday update...

2010-06-01T22:17:00.007+01:00

Kid's Club in the Village of Ardagh

Today was another day of door-to-door work in Newcastle West and the Kid's Club in Ardagh. We started the day with praise songs and a devotional by Josh that encouraged us with God's eternal plan of redemption, and a time of prayer for the people we've shared with and for the day ahead.

A bright spot today was that Victor and Heidi had a long conversation with three guys who invited them in for tea and listened to the gospel. And even though the team is small this year (just seven of us right now), there were several good conversations today, including a young Catholic couple with many questions about problems in the church and the differences between Catholicism and Christianity.

Doors and Kids' Club

2010-05-31T22:00:00.003+01:00

John Griffin "on the doors" in Ardagh

Monday:We had another time of team devotion and prayer. Andy encouraged us all by reading discussing Romans 10:14 with us. The passage reminded us of how we should have a heart like Christ; we should have a love for the unbelievers nad an eagerness to share the gospel with them.

After our prayer time we were back out "on the doors" in Newcastle West, following up on the delivery of the "Ireland 4You" magazines in estates (developments) around town. We were encouraged to have several good conversations, including some which may be good contacts for follow-up. It's cool to have the whole day focused on Christ when you are going door to door sharing the gospel, and you are challenged to really take a stand for what you believe.

This afternoon, we were in the nearby village of Ardagh. While part of the team continued knocking on doors, Heidi, Callie, Josh, Joan, and Andrew Shanks set up the "tent" on the green and held a kids' club. Despite the rain, several kids came out for the meeting. They started with games, and then they sang a few songs. Josh told them the story of the prodigal son. Afterwards, they had the opportunity to get points for answering questions about the story right.

After the kid's club, we had dinner at Eva and Adam's house. They warmly welcomed us into their home and we had a great time of fellowship together playing games like charades.

Sunday in Newcastle West

2010-05-31T21:43:00.002+01:00

Callie writing...

Today we were able to attend Newcastle West Bible Fellowship's Sunday meetings. We broke bread together and remembered our Lord Jesus Christ with the local assembly. Heidi and I had the opportunity to teach the children's Sunday school classes.

I had a class from 5-8 years old and Heidi had the older children's class. It was great being able to teach God's Word, and encouraging to see how excited the younger kids were about it.

Meanwhile, Brian gave the message for the family Bible hour.

After church we were invited to Joseph and Christine's for lunch - a sweet couple from the fellowship. They have four children: Benedict, Benedicta, Rhoda, and Christabel. It was fun being able to spend time with them and get to know them more.

Assembly Ministry

2010-05-31T19:50:00.002+01:00

One of the things we do in Ireland is serve various fellowships of Christians through teaching and preaching. For the past few years we have been conducting one day Interpreting the Bible seminars for anyone who wants to dig deeper into God's Word. This year we will be hosting three such sessions. The first two have already happened. At Shanganagh Bible Church (May 23) and Kilkenny Christian Assembly (May 30) we had excellent turn out for the interpretation workshop entitled "Romans: The Good News of Sanctification." We have also had opportunity to interact with smaller groups at Shanganagh, Kilkenny, and Waterford as we share together in prayer and the word.

Continue to pray for the Word to bear fruit not only in salvation for those we evangelized at the doors and on the streets but in the hearts of new believers as they sink down roots in their young Christian lives and for those who must face daily the pressure of living as a very small spiritual minority amongst their families and communities. Give us wisdom in the Word as we seek to encourage believers in the Faith during these challenging times.

Bookstall in NCW

2010-05-29T20:33:00.007+01:00

The bookstall provided people with a free assortment of Christian literature that presents the gospel and keeps the focus of salvation on Jesus Christ alone.

The work continues in Newcastle West

2010-05-29T20:18:00.002+01:00

We started the day (Saturday) off with another team devotion by Colin and prayer. Directly after breakfast half of the team delivered 'Ireland 4You' magazines to the rest of the town (total of about 2,500 magazines) while others began doing door-to-door ministry, returning to the homes where magazines were 'letterboxed' yesterday. Meanwhile, Andy and Ernie set up a NCW Bible Fellowship bookstall in the middle of town. These various activities provided team members many opportunities to present the gospel to people and tell them about the local fellowship. All of the team members began doing door to door work in the afternoon.

Door-to-door in Newcastle West

2010-05-29T20:11:00.003+01:00

Josh and Joan head out to knock on doors in an estate (subdivision) on Saturday afternoon.

Although not everyone that we talked to today accepted the truth, we were encouraged by the few who were genuinely receptive.

A couple of examples of today's contacts:
Heidi and Brian had the opportunity to share Christ with a young lady in her 20s. The lady had previously heard about our group, and she was aware of what we were doing. So at first the lady didn't really want to open up. But Brian and Heidi were able to share their testimonies with her. The lady agreed to look at the magazine and contact someone from the assembly if she ever changed her mind or had questions.

An ex-soldier (field engineer) invited Josh and Joan in for a conversation that lasted for over an hour. He was raised Catholic, knows the Bible but hasn't taken it seriously. But he was very receptive, and took the literature they offered, as he likes to read. Opportunities like this were a big encouragement to several of our team members who have never before knocked on doors to share the gospel.

Dinner with the Rekowskis

2010-05-28T21:56:00.003+01:00

Gregor and Marta Rekowski from the Newcastle West Bible Fellowship invited us for dinner and afterwards we watched "The Privileged Planet."

Tomorrow (Saturday) we will finish distributing the magazines (about 2000) in the rest of the town, help with a book stall in the city centre, and start knocking on doors as a follow-up to the magazine distribution.

From Shankill to Newcastle West

2010-05-28T21:25:00.005+01:00

Hi, this is Callie from Louisiana writing...

We went to the Carolans for dinner on Wednesday night. They served us a delicious meal. After a great time of fellowship Grace shared her testimony with the team. It was especially encouraging to the team; she explained how she was saved because of the faithfulness of a young man doing door-to-door ministry.

We left Shankill on Thursday morning and headed towards Newcastle West. We made a stop in Bunratty that Ron Hampton nicely planned out for us. We had a guided tour of Bunratty Castle, and we were able to learn and see a little of Irish culture. After we saw the castle we got back on the road. The Burnetts prepared an amzing dinner for us that night. It was exciting for us to meet Colin and Natalie because we'll be spending a lot of our time with them this week.

Following dinner we went to a prayer meeting with Newcastle West Bible Fellowship, which is now meeting at the Desmond Complex (community center). We enjoyed songs of praise, Bible teaching, and a time of prayer. We were able to meet many of the brothers and sisters from the assembly. We're excited to be here and ready to start our door-to-door evangelism.

On Friday morning we sang and had a devotional. It was great to start the day off reading God's word together. Colin and Andy Shanks also briefed us on our goals and plans for the week. Next, we split up and delivered "Ireland 4 You" magazines to different areas of the town. We took a break for lunch and delivered more magazines until dinner time.

The TNT team has arrived in Dublin

2010-05-26T16:58:00.003+01:00

Team members safely arrived in Ireland within the last few days with no interruptions or delays from Iceland's volcano, praise the Lord. Most of the members have recovered or are currently recovering from "jet lag." This years team is a lot smaller than previous years so the orientation and schedule is a little different as well.
Upon arriving at Shanganagh Bible Church, we noticed that many improvements had been made to their building. They've finally established themselves in the building. We've had the opportunity of meeting many of the church members and missionaries that we will be working with.

One of our first jobs as a team was to put labels on several thousand 4 You magazines; these magazines are really good opportunities for people to hear about Christ. On our first night here, the church served us a delicious meal. After dinner we had prayer meeting; it was good to go to the Lord in prayer with brothers and sisters in Christ from across the ocean.
Today started off with a nice breakfast, and lots of Irish history from Frank Carolan. After Frank spoke to us we were told helpful tips on sharing our testimonies with the people of Ireland. We also had a really good discussion about saving faith. After a full day of orientation and training, we are going to have dinner at Frank and Grace Carolan's tonight. We're looking forward to getting to know them better. The team seems to have started off with good harmony--having craic (Irish for great fun) slagging each other (making fun of/teasing) and laughing together. But we're still missing two members who will join us next week.

2010 Team: Ready, Set, Go!

2010-05-20T16:23:00.005+01:00

Although our numbers are down significantly this year, the Lord has provided 10 team members who will be used of Him to serve and build up Irish believers and assemblies and reach out with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Please PRAY for these team members:

Yvette Bustillos, FL
Leonard Carolan, Ireland
Josh George, AB
Ernie Imken, NY
Heidi Koppen, IA
Brian Kramer, MN
Callie Manning, LA
Joan Plympton, NY
Jim Van Dine, IA
Victor Zaki, TN

Four are first-timers who will arrive in Ireland more than a bit fearful of what they've got themselves into and worried about all that they don't know. This might even be true of some of the TnT veterans. The reality is this "fear will give way to faith" as they trust the Lord and a tremendous blessing will be the inevitable result.

Please PRAY that as team members leave home and travel to Dublin, that the Lord will over-rule their travel and all will arrive safely in Dublin (Monday-Wednesday next week). PRAY that they will be able to recover from the jet lag quickly as they will be involved in outreach starting next Thursday in Newcastle West, Co Limerick.

Thank the LORD that Jim Van Dine arrived safely in Dublin this morning and is already preparing for the first of three one-day mini-Bible schools he'll be running over then next month. Saturday's sessions will be hosted by the Shanganagh Bible Church at Glenmaris House in Shankill. Jim will hopefully have time to explain the curriculum for the day and also report afterwards.

2009-06-07T16:43:00.003+01:00

Team Newcastle West
Praise the Lord, someone came to the Lord this week! On Friday, Brian Aggett visited several travellers with Kathy Moriarty and a traveller named Miles professed salvation. Please pray for him.

We wrapped up kids club on Friday and were blessed with a good turn out and unusually sunny weather for the entire week. Several moms said they would be interested in later kids clubs.

We headed into downtown Dublin on Saturday planning to use the paint board but were rained out. We handed out tracts instead.

Today, Sunday, is the last day of our official duties. We leave tomorrow morning for our three-day team trip.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

2009-06-07T16:29:00.001+01:00

Thursday, June 4
Hey everybody! Greetings and God Bless! Things are slowly wrapping up as our time is coming to a close. Today we letterboxed all day and worked really hard at getting magazine numbers to a minimum for Kevin and Katy when other members of the Waterford Team leave. Later into the evening, the men had some male bonding time and the women had a fellowship time with a couple other female members of the Waterford Assembly. We had a lot of fun and learned a few new things about ourselves and the others. We pray for continual support for the people we meet here in Ireland as well as for our work in the missions field. Have a great day and talk to you all very soon!

Friday, June 5
Today was a good day! We have less than one thousand magazines left! Over 14 000 magazines have been distributed across the Waterford area whose population is around 18 000. This afternoon we also travelled door-to-door again. Ashley and Deirdre, another member of the Waterford Christian Assembly had a really good conversation with James, a man who practices Gnosticism. He seemed really interested in what we had to say and hopefully he makes it out to the Gospel meeting we are holding tomorrow night at Dooley’s Hotel. They also got to speak to a Buddhist lady and although she was unwilling to speak at first she also seemed accepting of what they had to say. Please keep everyone in your prayers, especially with the Team Trip coming up and the travelling we will be doing across the country! That night Daniella, a lady from the Waterford Christian Assembly and her son Jordan came over and made a wonderful dinner for us. And a few others joined in a few games after dinner with some singing in between. That’s all for now and we will talk to you soon! Have a great day and God Bless!

Saturday, June 6
Ah Saturday, a relaxing day of the week no doubt and this morning we took a very nice break from doing our letterboxing that is now complete, or very, very, very nearly. After a great hot lunch made by Katy, we headed out to the city centre to do some more open air work. It was very cold and we got rained out, but we met a number of other believers, one man, named Dave was looking for an assembly to join. Kevin thinks we may join the Waterford Assembly which would be fantastic! Pray for him and the others posted in the blog above and before. The Team Trip is coming up and we head out to meet one another on Monday! Please keep us in your prayers as we travel across Ireland! Thanks very much for your support! Have a great day and God Bless!

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

2009-06-03T18:27:00.012+01:00

Team Newcastle West

We haven’t fallen off the face of the earth! Rather we moved into a new location where we have no Internet access. So here’s a little update to cover the last three days.

By the way, we have had beautiful sunny weather since Friday, which has helped facilitate our work! Sunny days are a rarity in Ireland.

Sunday

Sunday, we worshipped with the saints at Newcastle West Bible Fellowship in the morning. Mylene and Rachel took Natalie and Gillian’s Sunday school classes. In honor of Kevin’s birthday, Jewel made a fajita lunch and we had the missionaries and John Griffin join us at our little rented house. We did a few more doors late afternoon and enjoyed a campfire, BBQ and devotional by Brian A. in the evening.

Monday

Monday morning we packed the minibus and headed back to Greystones where we at lasagna lunch made by Ron as well as Frank and Grace Carolan. We then drove on to Shankill where we are now staying in a large old home that was just purchased by the local Shanganagh Bible Chapel a few weeks before.

Tuesday

We distributed Bible packages in the morning and did door-to-door in the afternoon. Our first kids club in a nearby neighbourhood was a success despite some initial opposition. The president of the neighbourhood association suggested that perhaps we should not be here. We had 12 great kids out. Jewel visited the travelers (a nomadic gypsy people native to Ireland) with Kathy Moriarty in the afternoon. We ended the day attending the prayer meeting at the home of the Davises.

Wednesday

More letter boxing and door to door work, a visit to some of the travelers for Rachel, and another good kids club. The kids were very attentive.

We have found the residents in this town to be somewhat less responsive than those in Newcastle West. Please pray the Lord directs us to people who are seeking Him.

Thanks for your prayers!

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Team Dublin

On Monday, the Kilkenny team (formerly known as the Dublin team!) moved to Kilkenny. We took the day to visit the Cahire Castle and get settled into our new home in the Kilkenny Assembly Church. It was a much needed break and we had a lot of fun scaling the castle walls and exploring the different areas.

Today, Tuesday, we began letter boxing areas of Kilkenny with “4You” magazines in the morning and then went into downtown Kilkenny to do some open air work. Tim Hood, Ernie, and Matt all did the sketch board while the rest of us passed out tracts and talked with people around the area. Heidi and Tim talked to some young girls for quite some time and a few of them were really interested. They were engaged and asked a lot of questions, they didn’t just accept it and “yes” Heidi which was encouraging. Sarah, Jen, Ernie, and Suzy all had long conversations with people from all walks of life and today was also Matt’s first open air sketch board experience! He did so well and we are all so excited for the great things the Lord is doing with him and for our team.

Since we are settling into a new area we ask that you pray that we settle in quick so we can get into the groove again. We are going to be doing a Kids Club on our own (through the Kilkenny assembly) and so we need to plan games, stories, and get kids! Please pray that we are effective in canvassing for the club and that we look to the Lord for guidance in all decisions. Pray for sarah because she is leading the club this week and this will be her first time as head leader. Lastly pray for our fearless leader Tim. He has been so great and decisive but it takes a lot of energy. We are so thankful to have him as our leader and we are also thankful for our whole team and the great experiences we are having together.

Saturday, May 30, 2009

2009-05-31T20:30:00.018+01:00

Team Waterford
Hello dear readers! Today was a momentous day – we did not letterbox! This morning began with our usual devotional by David. He shared from Acts 1 and discussed how we needed to be unified in presenting the gospel and to go out in the Lord’s strength. It was an encouraging time once again.

Around 11 am, the team packed up the sketch board and some song visuals, and headed for the park. Once there, we attempted to look casual by tossing a ball around till Kevin had the sketch board ready. Once ready, a few of us went and invited the kids from the park to come for a Bible lesson and some songs. We got started by singing to just the team, but God blessed our efforts and several young girls came and listened to the songs, the verse game, and the Bible lesson. Ashleigh and Sarah handed out Wordless Book bracelets to more kids afterwards. After another verse game, the team was finished and headed back to the house for lunch. Tim Hood came by for lunch and to help in the afternoon.

Since God had provided a rare sunny Irish day, the team headed to the square for an afternoon of sketch boarding and open air evangelism. Kevin, Josiah, and Tim all skillfully presented a sketch board message, while the other team members engaged in conversation. Ashleigh and Sarah had the opportunity to have a conversation with two girls, Megan and Teesha. Megan, rather hardened to religion and uninterested at the beginning, slowly came to reveal that she blamed God for her friend’s untimely death a few years ago. Sarah was able to share some of her experiences and is praying that Megan will be thinking about it and be reading the tract. Tim and Kevin also engaged in several interesting conversations around the sketch board. The Wilsons came over for some evening fellowship but otherwise the team enjoyed a quiet night of rest and relaxation.

Team Dublin
The Shanganah retreat is taking place this weekend (Friday through Monday) at Carraig Eden in Greystone. The Dublin team has been able to help out with preparing meals for the Shanganah assembly as well as fellowship with them during the day. Jim Van Dine has been giving great talks on David “A man after God’s own heart” so that we can all emulate David’s submissive heart in our own lives.

On Saturday we had the opportunity to go into downtown Dublin to help out with some on-going open air work with Vincent Gannon. The team passed out numerous tracks and Bibles to passers-by and many of the team members had great discussions. Heidi was able to talk with an atheist man for a long while and really get him thinking about the Lord through her own happy, friendly demeanor. There were many people who asked for prayer including a lady named Kathleen who went home with a New Testament. Because the weather was so nice many people were out and about and much more willing to talk which was really an encouragement. We came back to Carraig Eden to have dinner and hear another great talk as well as fellowship with some fun quizzes administered by Frank Carolan.

The Shanganah assembly has been so welcoming and friendly to our team that we all feel like family. It shows how strong a bond can occur between strangers when they first have a relationship with Jesus Christ.

We ask that you pray for energy for our team because we have had a number of late nights and early mornings in addition to many long spiritual conversations which can be very engaging but draining (in a good way!). We ask that the Lord would keep our spirits high and in constant remembrance of his gift to us on the cross so that we can continue to put him first, others second, and ourselves last.

Tim Hood (centre, in grey striped shirt) speaks with a passserby in Dublin.

Matt Furey (right, in black hooded sweatshirt) speaks with a couple of folks in Dublin.

Jen Nygaard, Sarah Mattox, Joan Plympton, Matt Furey, Ernie Imken.

Kids club.

Heidi Koppen delivering Bibles.

Team Newcastle West
Saturday was our day off. We had a splendid day at the seaside. Colin and Natalie Burnett and their daughter Ashley showed us the town, cliffs and beach of Kilkee, about a two-hour drive from Newcastle West.

The cliffs were breathtaking and inspired a couple of us to sing Majesty while we gazed at them. Amy and Rachel ran into some cliff fisherman (they have massive poles and lines with as many as six hooks!) and shared the gospel with them.

We ate lunch and spent the afternoon on the beach, though the water was too cold for us to venture very far into it. Traditional fish and chips were had for dinner, also on the beach.

Andrew, our leader, bought some of the local fare – what looked like fresh sea snails – and shared it with us. The sign said, Winkles and Dillisk. The winkles are the snails, and we’re still not quite sure what dillisk is. You pull the snail out with a pin and it is a tiny, curly, fishy tasting little creature.

Colin Burnett played guitar for us each morning while we sang before our group devotional.

Brian Russell (left) and his wife are visiting from Eastbourne. He led us in morning devotions on Friday. On the right is Andrew Shanks, a full-time worker here and Brian's nephew.

Andrew Cockburn, our team leader, speaks with some Catholic school girls on Friday when we took the paint board to Limerick city.

Colin speaks to some boys.

Colin preaching with the paint board.

Friday, May 29, 2009

2009-05-30T10:11:00.001+01:00

Team Newcastle West
When Aomen lost his job today, Jewel Hobbs met him with warm word and a Christian magazine. She was with the team in Limerick this afternoon. She told him about the article on the economic downturn and it led to an opportunity to share the entire gospel. His eyes shaded by sunglasses, he was wiping his eyes before she finished.

“It was God’s perfect timing,” said Jewel, who had six solid conversations this afternoon in the city’s shopping plaza where the team set up a paint board to preach the gospel and hand out tracts and magazines.

One man, working as the mime in the square, told her his mother handed out tracts about Jesus too, but he didn’t believe. Two young boys wanted nothing to do with God, though they were raised by Baptist parents who encouraged them to walk in the way. But they and several others listened to her share the gospel.

Near the end of the day, Jewel was picking up discarded tracts when she came across Dave. He asked her many questions, such as “How do I know that this is the Bible I can believe?” She presented the gospel to him. At the end of their conversation he said to her, “so what you’re saying is God sent his Son to die for our sins and if we place our trust in the work of Jesus Christ then we can be forgiven for doing anything?” She ended up handing him all the literature she had just collected from the ground. He said he would read it tonight. “I said, it’s a lot of literature I’ve given you, but he said, no I’m going to read it all.”

Our hearts are cheered as we near the end of our time in Newcastle West. We leave on Monday. Amy Deligdisch, who leads our kids clubs, noticed a change in the answers of one young girl named Erica who came every day. Amy asked how we can know we will go to heaven. On the first day, Erica said, “sacraments and prayer.” On the last day, she said “believe in Jesus.

Tomorrow is our day off. We will head to a beach and enjoy some sun and rest.

Friday, 29 May 2009

2009-05-29T21:51:00.003+01:00

Team Waterford
Hello friends! The team woke up this morning only to find a very overcast day, as is typical in Ireland. After breakfast, the team had a study focusing on a passage in Daniel 9, which spoke about the importance of praying to the Lord despite the Lord’s sovereign will. The team then loaded their bags with the magazines and headed out to do some letterboxing, praying that the rain would hold off. In response to prayer, Ireland weather surprised the team and it turned into another bright and sunny day! Instead of doing door to door after lunch as routine, Kevin suggested more letterboxing. Waterford is stressing the importance of getting literature into people’s homes and as a result the goal is to hopefully get 15,000 magazines out. The team has made a dent into that number by decreasing it to about 13,000. Pray that this ministry continues to go smoothly.

After letterboxing, the team headed to the Wilson’s house, enjoying a lovely supper and tea as well as a trip to the nearby beach. Please continue to pray for the people the team meets on the doors and the conversations that we have gotten into these past few days. Pray for the upcoming open air ministry as well as some children’s work. Also, one of our team members, Sarah, is a little under the weather. Pray for her quick recovery. Continue to pray for those people who we will come in contact with soon as well, that the Lord would open their hearts to the wonderful words of the gospel!

Friday, May 29, 2009

2009-05-29T18:51:00.002+01:00

Team Waterford

Wesnesday
Hello all! Wednesday was another semi-routine day for the Waterford team, but it was a great day nonetheless. We went letterboxing in the morning and covered quite a bit of ground. Up and down the hills of Waterford, in and out the gates, and around the dogs of course too! After a fabulous lunch by Katie, we split up into teams and went door to door for the afternoon.

The Lord provided our teams with some interesting conversations. There were several New Testaments handed out. Josiah and Amy had the opportunity to witness to several Muslim men. They were invited in for tea, spent about 45 minutes having a Christ-focused conversation, and sent David back that evening for further study. While David was studying with the Muslims, the rest of team as well as Sarah Wilson drove out to Kilkenny for the Wednesday night prayer meeting. Josiah shared his testimony, and Kevin shared a message from God’s Word. Kevin spoke about Ephesians 6, teaching that Christians need power, protection, and prayer in their spiritual battle.

The message and the prayer and the fellowship were an encouragement to the team as we are fighting a spiritual battle here in Waterford. On the drive home, we took a scenic detour through downtown Kilkenny and stopped at the local chipper where the team enjoyed some fish and chips. Thankfully, despite narrow roads and a dark night, Art drove us safely back to the house in Waterford.

Thursday
Greetings from the Waterford TnT Team! Kindly, Kevin gave the team the morning off after our late night outing to Kilkenny. We slept in and enjoyed apple cinnamon pancakes for breakfast. David came over around eleven and shared with us from Psalm 51 on the importance of confessing sin so that our prayers are not hindered. It was a great message and provided some good discussion with him and the team. After lunch, the team went out for door to door work on an unusually sunny Irish day.

Unfortunately, despite the pleasant weather, it was a rough day on the doors and there were very few opportunities for conversations. The neighborhoods where we worked this afternoon were very much closed to the Gospel.

Pray that God will provide us with good opportunities and that we will not get discouraged. Sharing the gospel is not about us feeling good so we will be trusting the Lord to work. In the evening, the ladies had a Bible study with women from the church at the house while the guys found other ways to refresh themselves from a busy day, including some leisurely yard work at the house!

Thursday, May 28, 2009

2009-05-28T20:09:00.003+01:00

Team Dublin
For the past three days the Dublin team has been letterboxing “4 You” magazines and New Testaments to many homes in Shankhill and the Shanghana area during the morning hours. After lunch we have been going door to door talking to people about the Lord and how the Bible says we can know that we have eternal life.

Many conversations have been very in depth and have shown that there is an interest in spiritual things in Ireland despite the fact that the general population recently have been turned off the Catholic church. They are so against Catholicism that they are almost ready to throw out all religion. Most people become very intrigued when they hear about our certainty of our own salvation.

On one occasion Matt and Heidi spoke to a girl named Ciara about eternal life and she was so amazed by their faith and certainty of their salvation, even though they are young. She was very interested about the meeting in Shankhill and even came to the prayer meeting that same night. Heidi had the chance to go back to her the next day and develop a friendship. They get along so well we cannot doubt that the Lord has His hand in it.

Similarly Preveen and Suzy were invited into The Fitzpatrick’s home to discuss Jesus Christ and many other spiritual things for over two hours. There were many great questions asked and the gospel was clearly given and although the Fitzpatricks had things to do, they all stayed the whole time and listened and talked.

Many occurrences like this have happened throughout our week in Shankhill to which we thank God that we have been instruments of his will.
We are also thankful that the Bible we were waiting for (which we were told wouldn’t be here for another three weeks) arrived today!

Secondly we are thankful that the weather has been unexpectedly sunny and beautiful with very little rain. We would like to ask for prayer in following up on people who were interested as we went door to door.

Fellowship.

Door-to-door distribution.

Kids club.

Kids club.

Team Newcastle West
Wednesday we had a wonderful day on the doors. Although many were not home, many of those that were, were willing to talk.

Please pray for Hilda and Miriam, two ladies Brian Aggett and Rachel De Lazzer spoke with on Wednesday on the same street. Both seemed genuinely interested in the Scriptural truth we shared with them. Pray that the seeds of the Word would not be snatched away. We returned to do doors in the evening Wednesday night and found many people home.

Today we continued with door-to-door work and had yet another successful kids club. That will be the last kids club we have this week until we head to Dublin on Monday. Please pray that the children remember the Bible stories and memory verses we taught them.

We just finished the Thursday evening Bible study. We praise the Lord that a man named Steve came out to the meeting whom Mylene Lavoie and Brian Aggett met on the doors this week. We believe he is saved but had nowhere to fellowship. Please pray for his growth and that he would continue to come.

We head to Limerick tomorrow for open-air work.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

2009-05-27T15:52:00.003+01:00

Team Waterford

Kevin Woytowich, leader
Katy Woytowich, assistant leader
Art Cavenagh, driver
Sarah Von Bergen
Amy Dial
Josiah Hartley
Ashleigh Wilson
Ashley Hotel

At long last we hear from the Waterford folks. Here's their post:

Hey everyone, greetings and God bless! This paragraph is a collection of events from Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

Friday
So, journeying back to Thursday evening, we received our team groupings. Friday afternoon after lunch we left the house in Greystones, located in Wicklow, Ireland. We drove the three to fours hours and after a quick meal at the new house we relaxed and had a Bible study with David Wilson and his family who are full-time missionaries in Ireland.

Saturday
Saturday started with devotional time like it will every day from now on, we started litter boxing (putting magazines in people’s post boxes), and got rained out. We had lunch and luckily the sun came out. Kevin led the team into Waterford’s City Centre and we set up signs and started walking around talking to people and preaching the gospel.

Sarah and Amy got a huge crowd of young people and shared the gospel with them for at least an hour. Halfway through, a man was picking on Sarah for a bit, but the great thing about the people of Ireland is that the people will always vote for the underdog. After the man walked away, they really started to listen to what Sarah was telling them. Josiah and Ashleigh had a long conversation with a couple and then a man.

Catherine Watterson, a Christian from Northern Ireland and Ashley Hotel got to speak to an older man who has practiced other religions before and is now looking for the truth. He asked if someone could come and visit him soon for a follow-up. We ask that you continually pray for these people as none of them know the Lord and are searching for something. Pray that the Lord provides the truth for them so they can join the Waterford Christian Assembly, or another chapel. Thanks for your prayers! God Bless!!

Sunday
Sunday was a very busy day for the Waterford team. We attended the Waterford Christian Assembly and Sarah, Amy, Ashley, and Ashleigh taught the Sunday school class. Olivia joined the class and played the games and singing. After the lunch meeting we had a bit of quiet prayer time and then we had the assembly over for a time of fellowship. It was really fun meeting with all the different people, and hearing the different testimonies and how the Lord has worked in each of our lives.

Monday
Well another busy day, as they all should be doing the Lord's work! We started our actual schedule and have it down to devotions in the morning, then breakfast. After breakfast we letterbox (put magazines/pamphlets into residents mail boxes) until lunch, and then after lunch we either go door-to-door and tell everyone of the gospel, or we go and do open-air evangelism. So the teams for the door-to-door work were Sarah and Art; Kevin and Ashleigh; Ashley and Wayne (member of the assembly in Waterford); Amy and David; and Josiah and Catherine. It wasn't a very successful day and a lot of doors were shut to the members. Please continually pray for the people over here who do not believe in the Lord or believe something else. They need the Lord Jesus Christ in their lives!

Tuesday
Today was a good day. A lot of ground is being covered with the letterboxing and it seems like the Lord is providing more open doors. Going door-to-door the other day was pretty sad and you could almost feel the darkness, but today the sun was out and the Lord was opening new lives to us. Art and Ashley found a couple of women who did not own a Bible, but asked for a copy. We gave one a New Testament and the other the Gospel of John. Even better the one women is willing to call members of the assembly to ask questions about the gospel after she is finished reading it. Please pray for her and the other people that were met by team members and ask the Lord to continue to work in their lives.

After dinner, the rest of the team letterboxed and there will be rough estimates of how many magazines and New Testaments have been given out in the past few days! Thanks to all! God Bless!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

2009-05-26T20:30:00.000+01:00

Team Dublin
Last night the team spent the evening with some travellers, a nomadic Irish people similar to gypsies. Two of them made professions of salvation. One of them, Gary, was especially keen. “He asked some really pointed questions, like how can a person be born twice” said team leader Tim Hood. Please pray for Gary and the other traveler, whose name we plan to post later.

The team did door-to-door work for the first time today. They met a young girl named Ciara, age 19, on the doors and brought her with them for dinner this evening. Please pray for her.

Tim says they have distributed 1,000 Bibles on the doors over the past two days. They have held two successful kids clubs as well.

Team Newcastle West
We finished magazine distribution this morning for the designated neighbourhoods. We followed up with some door-to-door work this afternoon but few people were home. Still some good conversations were had.

After the unwelcome reception we received at the neighbourhood where we held the kids club yesterday, we moved to a new neighbourhood where parents were keen to have us. It went very well and the kids were all unsaved, as far as we know and happy to be there. Please pray for Amy Deligdisch as she co-ordinates the kids club efforts again tomorrow and Thursday. Pray the teaching may lead to the salvation of children and parents.

Monday, May 25, 2009

2009-05-26T09:07:00.001+01:00

Updates from Team Dublin and Team Waterford coming shortly!

Team Newcastle West
This morning we delivered Christian magazines on the doors.

Our kids club went well this afternoon though there were few unsaved children there. Near the end of our session, two women approached and told our missionary hosts that the neighbourhood was a private estate and we were not welcome. We will go to a new estate tomorrow. Please pray we will get unsaved children and their parents for the coming kids clubs (tomorrow through Thursday). Amy Deligdisch, our Child Evangelism Fellowship expert on the team, organized the event and assigned us our various roles.

Our missionary hosts took us up into the rolling hills around Newcastle West for a short evening hike. We had opportunity to witness to several men we met along the path.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

2009-05-25T10:44:00.012+01:00

Note: The Dublin and Waterford teams have limited or no Internet access. Updates from those teams will be posted as they come in.

Team Newcastle West
It was one of the best tract distribution days the missionaries in Newcastle West have had in a while. The team went to a nearby agricultural fair to man an “Ultimate Decision” booth and hand out tracts.

“It was very encouraging,” said Andrew Shanks, one of the full-time workers here. He said that a surprising number of people were willing to talk. “Normally it’s just the three of us,” he said. “The highlight for me was standing back and looking and at one time there were three or four of you having conversations.”

The Lord also blessed us with a perfectly clear day, allowing us to move freely through the fair grounds distributing literature.

Kevin Bibelhausen preached a gospel message using the paintboard. It was his first time doing so. He was encouraged that, though there were few listeners, the painting was used twice by team members to illustrate the gospel in later conversations.

Please pray for Martin, a man in his mid 30s. Mylene and Andrew Shanks spoke with him. “He understood that he had to get right with God,” said Andrew. He took a copy of Ultimate Christianity and The Uniqueness of Christianity CD and said he planned to listen to it on his way home.

The Ultimate Decision booth.

Mylene Lavoie speaks with a passerby.

Colin Burnett using the paint board.

Andrew Cockburn preaching with the paint board.

Amy Deligdisch.

Saturday, May 24, 2009

2009-05-23T20:02:00.005+01:00

Team Dublin

Tim Hood (leader)
Heidi Koppen (assistant leader)
Ernie Imken (driver)
Joan Plympton
Matt Furey
Suzi DeMatteo
Jen Nygaard
Sarah Mattox

Today the team was on O’Connell Street, Dublin’s main downtown thoroughfare, for street preaching and tract distribution. They handed out upwards of 500 tracts. “Everyone on the team had lots of opportunity to talk to different ones who were quite keen,” said leader Tim Hood.

One man to pray for is Peter. Joan Plympton gave him a tract. He said he had no problem understanding that he was a sinner. “He said, ‘I know I need to get right with God,’” said Tim. When Tim asked him if he read the Bible, Peter pulled out a New Testament and said he had just started reading it. Tim explained what he needed to do to be saved and felt he was quite close to the Kingdom.

Three young teenagers, Aoife, Nairead, Nianh, were also very interested in the gospel that was being preached. Please pray for them as they read the literature given to them.

Ernie Imken demonstrates the gospel message by paint board.

Jen Nygaard, right, speaks with a passerby.

Tim Hood preaches the gospel by paint board.

Team Newcastle West
James is 77 years old. The older he gets, he finds himself thinking more about spiritual things. Amy Deligdisch, teamed with Colin Burnett, spoke with him on the doors today in Newcastle West. He seemed to understand that he was a sinner. “You’ve really given me something to think about,” he said as they finished.

“It was just really exciting because we didn’t go in circles and he really came to an understanding,” said Amy. Please pray for him as he reads over the magazine they left him.

Other people to pray for include a Muslim man spoken to by Brian Aggett and Jewel Hobbs. Brian was thankful for an Arabic article in the magazine they were distributing. “What would have been a very difficult conversation was made very easy,” said Brian. “He translated it aloud for me.”

Pray for Christine, a woman met by Brian Kramer and Kevin Bibelhausen, who had many questions about why God allows suffering. She has lost her husband, granddaughter and others close to her in the last year and a half.

Friday, May 22, 2009

2009-05-22T21:38:00.011+01:00

Team Newcastle West

Andrew Cockburn (team leader), Ontario
Jewel Hobbs (assistant leader), Ontario
Brian Kramer (driver), Minnesota
Brian Aggett, Washington
Kevin Bibelhausen, Iowa
Amy Deligdisch, North Carolina
Mylene Lavoie, Quebec
Rachel De Lazzer, Ontario

Today was a travel day. We spent most of the afternoon watching the Irish countryside pass us by as we headed about three hours west from Greystones, Co. Wicklow to Newscastle West, Co. Limerick.

Full-time worker Colin Burnett and fellow missionary Andrew Shanks from the assembly in Newcastle West drove out to Carraig Eden to spend the morning with us and share their testimonies.

Colin and his wife Natalie were previously missionaries in Africa and later carried on a ministry to the poor in Hamilton, Ontario. He spoke of how the Lord put Ireland on his heart. When they came to Newcastle West, he said they found that they were reaping seeds that had been sown earlier by John Griffin, a chimney sweep in Newcastle West who had been praying for a church to come to the town for five years before Colin and Natalie arrived and established one. Our team will be helping them in door-to-door, open air and children's work in the week to come.

Watch for updates and photos from the Dublin and Waterford teams tomorrow. We'll have photos tomorrow as well.

Packing up at Carraig Eden in Greystones, Co. Wicklow Friday afternoon.

Arriving at Newcastle West Bible Fellowship in Newcastle West.

Pizza dinner with Colin and Natalie Burnett and Andrew and Gillian Shanks, missionaries in Newcastle West.

Andrew Shanks, Andrew Cockburn and Colin Burnett planning the following day.

Kevin Bibelhausen, Andrew Cockburn and Brian Kramer in TESCO shopping for food.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

2009-05-21T22:08:00.008+01:00

Today we knuckled down on door-to-door and open-air basics. Ron Hampton gave us an overview of priorities on the doors. “Find the one person that wants to keep going,” he said, as opposed to trying to get to multiple homes quickly.

Kevin Woytowich, one of our team leaders, reviewed some common questions on the doors and possible ways to answer them including everything from “God is not important to me” to “Everyone has their own religion.”

Tim Hood, previously a missionary in the south of Ireland for 10 years and another one of our team leaders, went over some dos and don’ts. Be perceptive as to their sincerity, he said. Try not to veer off track. Don’t be in a hurry but keep the conversation flowing. Ask questions and don’t monopolize the conversation.

We later got some practice time. Leaders posed as residents answering their doors.

Andrew Cockburn taught us how to preach a simple gospel message with a paint board and how to approach those who stop to listen. Tim added a rope trick that can serve as a teaser to the paint board message.

Today was lovely on the coast. It hardly rained but once in the evening.

After four days together, it’s tough to know we’ll split into three groups tomorrow and head to different parts of the Republic for the rest of our trip before we rejoin for the three-day Ireland tour at the end. Teams were announced tonight. We leave tomorrow after lunch. One group begins in Dublin, another in Waterford and the third, in Newcastle West, Co Limerick.

Morning session on door-to-door techniques.

Andrew Cockburn teaches us how to use a paint board to preach a gospel message in the open air.

David Wilson, missionary in Waterford, tells us his testimony after lunch.

Playing round robin before dinner.

Jewel Hobbs, Amy Deligdisch and Kevin Bibelhausen helping in the kitchen after lunch.

Kevin and Mylene Lavoie in the kitchen after lunch.

Danny and Pat Gleason from Shankill sharing their testimony after dinner.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

2009-05-21T09:58:00.007+01:00

By now, we’ve all more or less adjusted to the fact that you don’t leave the building without an umbrella or at least a rain jacket. But having the sea on our doorstep more than makes up for the fickle weather.

We’ve yet to get right down to any active evangelism and are still learning the ropes, so-to-speak. One of the organizers and teachers here, Jim Van Dine, gave us some guidelines this morning on effective ways to witness. Steering us to the gospel of John, he suggested using the approach of that particular book in presenting the gospel on the doors. The word “believe” occurs in John 98 times. It clearly presents who Jesus Christ is and the gift of salvation He freely gives to those who receive it. “Jesus offers eternal life as a gift … Lead off with that,” he said, suggesting that even if someone cuts you off before you can finish, you still leave them with the most important idea.

He suggested steering away at least initially from anything the person has to do, and focusing on what Christ has done.

He also talked about avoiding what can be misleading or confusing terminology, such as “inviting Christ into your heart.”

In the afternoon, we had a group picture taken by Ron Hampton’s photographer son-in-law Jeremy, who is here visiting with his wife Meagan. We also continued with some labeling we started yesterday. There are 25,000 gospel magazines in all that need contact information labels on them. They will be used for distribution in counties Dublin, Waterford, Kilkenny and Limerick.

Three of our team members, Child Evangelism Fellowship veterans, ran through the Five-Day Club program from the CEF. The TnT team will be involved in child evangelism as part of this trip. We were taught the general format – memory verse, songs, Bible lesson etc. – and how to make it engaging for children.

Frank and Grace Carolan, who are native Irish and local missionaries in the Republic of Ireland, joined us for dinner and shared their testimonies. Grace shared how dire it was for her to leave her family’s Catholic faith around 20 years ago when she became a believer. Her father said he disowned her as his daughter.

Tomorrow, we go door-to-door.

Monday, May 18 and Tuesday, May 19, 2009

2009-05-19T20:04:00.023+01:00

Tuesday, May 19, 2009
John is a “traveller.” He belongs to the gypsy people of Ireland, who are called the travellers. But unlike most of them, John names Christ as Lord.

The TnT Team met him today when he shared his testimony with us at Carraig Eden. His tales were the high point of the day for many of us.

Local missionary Kathy Moriarty says he tells her a new story about someone he has just witnessed to or led to Christ each time she sees him.

Kathy, who serves in Greystones with her husband Jim, taught us about the Irish people and how to best approach them. "Irish people are much more on the subdued side ... Think before you speak. Be polite and be gracious."

They are an open and friendly people but also private about their personal life, she said. We are to let them volunteer personal information rather than probe.

Jim taught us how to present our testimonies in under three minutes. "Keep it simple ... Keep it at the cross." We were then given a chance to practice with each other.

After being "sent" to bed at 9 p.m. Irish time yesterday, most of us have caught up from our jet lag. We wrapped up the day with a beautiful meal of bacon-wrapped chicken breast, stuffing and vegetables.

En francais:

(veuillez prendre note que les accents de ce texte n’ont pas ete ajoutes du aux complications que la traduction encourait. Toutefois cela ne devrait pas affecter la comprehension du message)

John est un “voyageur”. Il appartient aux bohemes qui habitent l’Irlande. Mais contrairement a la plus part de ceux-ci, John reconnait Christ comme Seigneur.

L’equipe TNT l’a rencontre aujourd hui alors qu’il a partage son temoignage à Carraig Eden. Son histoire a ete l’evenement de la journee pour plusieurs d’entre nous.

Une missionnaire Local appelee Kathy Moriarty nous a dit que chaque fois qu’elle voit John, celui-ci vient de temoigner ou de guider quelqu’un a Christ. Il est un grand encouragement.

Kathy, qui sert a Greystones avec son mari Jim, aida notre comprehension par rapport au peuple Irlandais et sur la meilleure facon de les aborder. “les Irlandais sont beaucoup plus reserve concernant leur vies privees…pensez avant de parler. Soyez polis et gracieux dans vos commentaires.”

Nous avons egalment ete enseigne sur la facon d’apporter notre temoignage. “Gardez la chose courte et simple” Nous a conseille Jim. “Rapportez vous a la croix” a-t-il ajoute. Le tout en moins de trois minutes. Par la suite nous avons eu un temps de pratique, ce qui a ete profitable.

Apres avoir ete envoye a 9:00 p.m. heure local, hier, la pluspart d’entre nous se sont remis du decalage horraire.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Team members arrived safe and sound today from their various locations in Canada and the U.S.

After several trips to and from the airport for the organizers, we settled into our rooms, a little in awe the beautiful Carraig Eden school building we find ourselves in.

Overlooking the Irish sea, the Bible school is an old home in Greystones, Ireland, not far from Dublin. Several of us took advantage of the one Internet connection in the building to send emails back home announcing our safe arrival.

Others of us took a walk to town to get our money changed into Euros, the currency of choice here in Ireland, and browse the main street. Some went for a walk along the water.

Matt Roch, an elder at a local church here, visited the team and shared his testimony. As a youngster, he was always getting into trouble. One day, the nuns from school paid his mother a visit -- he had been stealing from the convent. Later in life, he worked as a chef in a hotel restaurant. About six years into the job, the hotel was bombed and he found himself thinking more and more about death. The persistence of a co-worker later helped direct him to salvation.

En francais:

Les members de l’equipe sont arrives sains et saufs aujourd’hui, arrivants du Canada et des Etats-Unis.

Après plusieurs voyages alle-retours de l’aeroport, tous se sont finalement installes dans les chambres. Nous logeons dans un etablissement scolaire appele Carraig Eden. L’endroit est magnifique et pitoresque.

Surplombant la mer Irlandaise, l’ecole biblique est en fait une vieille maison de Greystones non loin de Dublin. Plusieurs d’entre nous ont eu l’opportunite d’envoyer un e-mail a leur famille afin de les informer de leur arrivee. Le village detient un café internet et pour ceux qui ont apporter leur ordinateur portable, le batiment contient une connection internet que l’equipe peut se partager.

Nous avons egalement eu l’opportunite d’aller changer de l’argent en euros et de se promener sur la rue principale du village. D’autres ont prefere prend au marche au bord de la mer.

Matt Roch, un des anciens de l’assemblee locale, a visite l’equipe et nous a partage son temoignage. Dans sa jeunesse, il avait le don de s’attirer des problemes. Un jour, sa mere a eu droit a une visite des soeurs de l’ecole car il s’etait fait prendre a voler dans le couvent. Plus tard dans sa vie, il a travaille comme chef dans un hotel. Apres 6 ans a occuper ce poste, l’hotel a ete la cible d’une bombe ce qui a amener Matt a penser de plus en plus a la mort. La persistence d’un confrere de travail l’a plus tard dirige vers le salut.