Armagh

Each day the team divided into two groups: One group participated in door-to-door outreach in Keady, a town
of approximately 3,000 people in south Armagh. We invited people to services to be held in the local
community centre and gave out literature. There were many good Gospel conversations and many positive
responses. The second group went with Aaron Riddle and Phil Martin to take The Amazing Journey
presentation into five schools in the Armagh area.

Team members dressed up as Bible characters like Moses, Esther, Rahab and Thomas to deliver the message of ‘God’s Great Rescue Plan’ to the children. The children then had an opportunity to dress up themselves and try some Bible food, such as bread and honey.  On the Sunday night, Bertie Coffey spoke in the Armagh Church and Lydia Jones sang. In Keady, Paul McAdam shared God’s Word, with Victoria Patrick testifying. The team also gladly participated in the mid-week meetings in the Church.

Cavan

We arrived at Cavan Baptist Church on Saturday, 21 October, in time to take part in Remix their Saturday youth event. Next day, the Church held a fellowship lunch where the team were able to meet the congregation and get a feel for the vibrant, familial community that comprises Cavan Baptist. Our working week kicked off with a visit to Royal School, Cavan, where Martin Newell took the first of five assemblies in the week, (the team also assisted with the school’s lunchtime CU on Thursday). In the afternoon, we headed to the nearby town of Belturbet to go door-to-door, promoting a forthcoming Christianity Explored course and seeking gospel conversations with residents.

Tuesday morning was the first of a number of sessions in a local school - Loreto College, giving a presentation
on ‘What Baptists Believe’ to a range of age groups. On Wednesday evening team members led home group
Bible studies across the county, based on the passages taught on Sunday. Charlotte McManus and Sharon Hoy, along with David Kimber and Chris Brown, attended Crubany National School on Thursday morning, working with Jayne Gibson from CEF to teach a Bible story to the children. Later on the same day, a similar programme was presented to TNT, the church’s session for primary school children. Before heading home on Friday afternoon, we made a final visit to Royal School and to Belturbet.

Hamilton Road

During our time at Hamilton Road Baptist Church, we were given the opportunity to take part in the Bangor lunch bar outreach, door-to door evangelism and children’s ministry. The children’s ministry included Parent and Toddlers
and children’s meetings in Hamilton Road Baptist and Kilcooley Presbyterian. We also took part in the Scripture Union groups in Glenlola, Regent and Bangor Grammar. At the lunch bar outreach students gave short apologetic talks, for 6-10 minutes on a variety of topics such as ‘Did Jesus really exist?’; ‘Why does God allow suffering?’ and ‘Is Jesus the
only way?’ This allowed visitors to the bar to hear the gospel and also allowed conversations about the gospel to be started. We were also given training for evangelism by Steve Wright (Newtownbreda) and Mervyn Scott (Baptist Missions), as well as a lecture on how to prepare a sermon by Jonathan McClaughlin. The team left at the end of the week more fully equipped to faithfully serve the church of God and blessed by the teaching, hospitality and generosity of Hamilton Road Church.

Passage West

Passage West (informally called, Passage) is a port town about seven miles east of Cork with a population of approximately 5,000 inhabitants.  While there is no official Baptist church there Shane Deane (Baptist Missions) works in
partnership with the Douglas Church. Together, they look for opportunities to reach into the community. Their long-term vision is to plant a church.  Six team members met on Saturday, 22 October and after a fried breakfast, headed off to Passage West. The week started as soon as we arrived - we spent the evening with Douglas Church youth. What a privilege it was to meet such an enthusiastic group of young people and study Psalm 1 together. For us, one of the main encouragements of evangelism week was getting to know the members of the Douglas Church. Their desire to reach into their community was inspiring. The team spent time delivering invitations to a special Kid’s Club and Harvest Service in Passage planned for Friday night, 27 October. The highlight of our week was seeing local children come to the Kid’s Club and learn the Parable of the Sower. Later that evening, the hall was nearly full for the Harvest Service - several people the team had met during the week were there.

Shankill Road

Shankill Baptist is one of the oldest Baptist churches in Belfast, being established in 1896. Back then, it was a rural church. Today, the church exists in the middle of the bustling streets of Belfast city. There have been many changes in the area, but the church has remained faithful - continuing to preach the gospel and develop Christian followers among local people. Our team arrived on Sunday, 22 October, having been invited by the Church to help with their work. As well as holding a couple of special events, such as a table quiz and ladies’ fellowship meeting, we also took part in various tasks such as taking the Sunday services, schools and youth work, door-to-door work and street evangelism, all of which are part of the church’s regular activities. The Church has many faithful members, but only a small evangelism team working on a weekly basis - some of their older members are unable to help due to ill-health. Evangelism week was a
great opportunity for us to offer our support and encourage the Church to continue to work in an area that needs Christ. Thank you to each church for their invitation to a team and for their generous hospitality to the students during the week.

 

Please pray for the on-going work in each area.