Youth Meeting at Faith Baptist Church in Glengormley

Last night I travelled up with Stephen and April Baker and a young lady from the church in Limavady to the youth meeting of Faith Baptist Church in Glengormley, of which Stephen is the pastor.  We had a great time with the folks there.  There was a bit of excitement when we first got there with a lady being pretty angry about some apples that she thought were thrown at her car.  

The youth meeting went well with 20 teenagers present.  My hat goes off to the workers for their hard work with these young people who have tons of potential but can be unruly and cheeky at times.  After the young meeting, Stephen and Alan head up a youth fellowship for Christian teenagers called, “Youth on Fire” which is aimed at encouraging Christian young people to get fired-up about reaching their friends and the world for Christ.  They allowed me a to preach a message to them from Jonah 4.  After the message, Alan and Stephen explained a possible evangelism approach.  (See picture below.)

I am excited about what God is doing there in the lives of these young people, and I will be praying for God’s blessings on the work there.

Report on Our Mission

Thank you for praying for our Gospel Mission that started on Saturday and finished last night.  It was a very busy time for us, as we had 12 services in 5 days at the 2 churches.  The Lord blessed with a renewed vision for us to reach the lost and the world.  Stephen Baker and John Anderson preached for us.  John did the bulk of the preaching, and I think we nearly preached him to death with 6 messages in 3 days.  Please be in prayer now as we set goals for 2009 and prepare for all that God is going to do.

What I Am Thankful For

Today on Thanksgiving Day, I want to thank God for…

• His love and salvation through the sacrifice of His Son on the cross for me.
• His Word and His Holy Spirit.
• My wonderful, beautiful wife who is a tremendous lady and help meet for me.
• My son Grant and daughter Darci with whom I was able to spend alot of time today.
• Great friends all over this world and specifically the Stephen Baker family and John Anderson family with whome we enjoyed a Thanksgiving meal today.
• My pastor Austin Gardner and all of the pastors and men of God over the years who have invested in my life.
• Food which is so bountiful here.  We had a great meal today with tons of food.
• The privilege to work in the Northwest Baptist Church and Roe Valley Baptist Church.
• All of the Lord’s daily blessings that He give me…

Monday Service – Outreach Mission

We are in the middle of our Global Outreach Mission.  Today through Wednesay there is a service at 6.00 PM at Northwest Baptist Church in Derry and at 8.00 PM at Roe Valley Baptist Church in Limavady.  We had two great services.  It was a blessing to be able to hear from Bro. Aaron with Project North Africa.  John Anderson preached both services, and it was a also a blessing to have Stephen Baker and Martin Wickens with us in the services.  Please continue to pray for the meetings on tomorrow night and Wednesday night.

International Banquet

We had a good international banquet at Roe Valley Baptist Church to kick of our mission conference. Stephen Baker did a great job preaching.

Global Outreach Mission

Please be in prayer for Northwest Baptist Church and Roe Valley Baptist Church as we begin the Global Outreach Missions for these two churches on this Saturday at our International Banquet.  Stephen Baker will preach and we hope to interview our missionary Evan Williams.  Sunday, I will be preaching from the book of Jonah, and then Monday through Wednesday John Anderson will preach in Derry at 6.00 PM each night and in Limavady at 8.00 PM each night.

Stephen Baker Family

We are privileged to have Stephen and April Baker visiting with us today.  They are going to be working here in Northern Ireland as church-planting missionaries and with Faith Baptist Church in Glengormley.  I went to the airport today to collect them, and we are enjoying visiting with us.  Pray for Steve as he preaches on Tuesday at the midweek Bible study at 7.30 PM at Northwest Baptist Church and then this Saturday at our International Banquet at Roe Valley Baptist Church which will be for all the folks from Derry and Limavady.

Questions About Our Ministry

In my last prayer letter, I made reference to the fact that I took the pastorate at Roe Valley Baptist Church in Limavady.  One of our supporting churches contacted us and thought that we had returned to the States to pastor a church there, so i wanted to just clarify a little bit about what is going on in the church in Limavady and our goals for the ministry here.

Roe Valley Baptist Church was started 7 years ago by Ronnie Smith, a missionary with Macedonia World Baptist Mission, who recently returned to the States to be the assistant pastor in his home church.  Several months ago, Bro. Smith mentioned to me that he believed God was leading him to return home and was trying to find another man to take over the church and help it grow to where it could be strong enough to support its own pastor.  As the time for his departure approached, the church had not yet found a man to step in as the pastor and lead it forward.
 
After praying and seeking the Lord’s will in the matter, I felt that God would have me become the missionary pastor after Bro. Smith left because of the following reasons:
1.  The church is still a relatively small work and needs help to grow stronger.
2.  The church could not support it’s own pastor and would struggle without leadership.
3.  The church has a nice place to meet and potential to grow and become a strong indigenous church.
 
I expressed my willingness to help the church out until they are strong enough to support their own pastor, and the church accepted me as the missionary pastor.  I receive no salary or income from the church.  The offerings that come in just barely cover the rent and utilities of the building.  I do not plan to stay on permanently as their pastor.  I am also working to help the church we have started in Londonderry to become indigenous at the same time.  I am hoping that soon the church in Limavady will grow to where it can support it’s own pastor and that God will raise up a young man that we can train to take over as the permanent pastor of the church.
 
I hope that explains a little more about the situation here.  I am a church-planter and have no intention of being the permanent pastor of any of these churches here, but until the churches can pay a pastor’s salary and until a man is trained to take over the churches, I will remain in leadership as the missionary pastor.

Good Service Last Night

We had a very good Harvest Service last night at Roe Valley Baptist Church in Limavady.  William Sayers did a great job.  It was a blessing to have him sing and share the Word of God with us.  I preached a simple message from John 3 on “Ye Must Be Born Again.”  We had 27 in attendance with 1 first-time visitor, so praise the Lord for that.

Ronnie Smith, the founding pastor of Roe Valley Baptist Church, is back for a week and will be preaching this Sunday at the church in Limavady, so please pray for him as he preaches.

Harvest Services in Limavady

Every fall, it is traditional for churches to have a Harvest Service.  Tonight will be the Harvest Service at Roe Valley Baptist Church in Limavady.  We have William Sayers coming to sing and testify in the service and then I will be preaching.  Please pray for this service, as we are hoping to have lots of visitors and some lost people in attendance.