Ministry Update
I wanted to just give you an update of where we are in the ministry.
We came to Northern Ireland in June 2004 and worked for about a year and a half with Roe Valley Baptist Church in Limavady. We filled in for Ronnie and Marsha Smith while they were in America on furlough for a year and then helped them for a few months after they returned back to Northern Ireland.
From December 2005 to June 2006, we went home for a 6-month furlough before starting Northwest Baptist Church in Derry/Londonderry. After having home Bible studies for a year, we booked rooms at a local hotel and began to have our church meetings there. In September 2007, we had our first official opening service. In May 2008, we officially organised and constituted the church with 13 charter members. Our pastor, Austin Gardner, was here to preach for us and to represent our sending church.
In October 2008, when the Smiths returned home, we took over the leadership of Roe Valley Baptist Church, and it has been a joy to work with these folks again. On Sundays, I preach 5 times and am on the road for 2 hours driving back and forth between the church. The midweek service in Derry is on Tuesday and the one in Limavady is on Wednesday. I rotate visiting every other Thursday in the different places.
With both churches, our goal is that they would grow strong enough to be able to support their pastor and that from these churches other churches could be started. Currently during the midweek services at both churches, we are going through an evangelism course that a friend of mine wrote, preparing to go out door-t0-door once the longer evenings come in April. Every month, we have a ladies’ fellowship, men’s breakfast, and church-wide fellowships. We send out a monthly newsletter with helpful articles and upcoming events and meetings. Every Saturday, we go out knocking doors.
We are very excited about what the Lord is going to do this year At the end of January, we are having a special “Vision Night” to share with the churches our vision for this next year. We are praying for God to give us students for the Our Generation Training Centre, and we are praying about starting a Bible institute. Thank you so much for your prayers.
You can keep up with us on this blog, the blog for Northwest Baptist and for Roe Valley Baptist. Also, you can follow us at facebook and twitter. If you have any questions, please let us know.