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“search the scriptures” John 5:39
Holiday Bible Club at Manor Road, Guildford
In preparation for the Holiday Bible Club the believers in Guildford visited four schools and gave out over one thousand leaflets to advertise the event to children in the area. Thirty children arrived the first day; this number rose to thirty-four by the end of the week. The believers were very much aware that each of those children is known to God and is very special to Him. Not one of them is just a number and we must never treat them in that way either. In all, forty children attended the club, twenty-five of whom do not come to the Sunday School or Friday Bible Club. One mother, new to the area, said that her son had said how ‘kind’ the believers were.
Hemsworth
The Hemsworth assembly in Yorkshire went into the local schools again in March this year. Over a six-day period they reached about 1500 children with a Bible Exhibition provided by the Open Air Mission.
Cumbria Gospel Outreach
The Cumbria Gospel Outreach continues to spread the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ in the county of Cumbria. Most of the villages in the county are covered in the summer months. In 2005 a new mobile display unit was purchased. This has attractive, up to date, modern, colourful graphics which are used to present the gospel at all the Agricultural Shows and Markets in the county. It is a hard and demanding work to keep staffing the display unit and the believers who organize this would appreciate any help that can be offered. Thirteen Agricultural Shows plus the Penrith Market have been booked for 2008.
Renfrewshire
The assembly at Bethany Hall, Gourock, had a busy time towards the end of 2007. In the summer months they took their gospel services into a local public park, several heard the gospel who would never attend the services in the hall. In September and October they had gospel meetings with Peter Brandon. The Lord really spoke through the ‘preaching of the word’ in the hall in the evenings and during the day when coffee mornings were held in the homes of a number of the believers. Overall, a good number of people heard the gospel, several professed faith in Christ, others were strengthened in their faith while at the same time the whole assembly was uplifted and challenged by brother Peter Brandon’s ministry.
Lanarkshire
The Lanarkshire Gospel Tent Work last summer was concentrated on two campaigns, each of three weeks. One campaign was at Low Waters, Hamilton, the other at Kirkmuirhill. Roland Pickering was the preacher on both occasions. Door-to-door visitation, open-air preaching each night, and Saturday Rallies took place at Low Waters, Kirkmuirhill, Chapelhall, Greengairs, and Newmains. In both campaigns, the hall was filled each night and the presence of the Lord was known. Unsaved folk were present almost each night; mostly they were brought by believers. A local councillor came to one of the meetings with her husband, and after their visit she wrote an excellent article for the local paper speaking of the ‘marvellous preacher’ and encouraging locals to attend the meetings.
North East Scotland
At Woodside, Aberdeen, the Fountain Hall assembly had a stand at a recent Gala held in a nearby playing field. The response from the children, their parents and other adults, was encouraging; some remembered their Sunday School days. Literature and texts were freely taken and every child received a Children’s Gospel Pack. One man has started to attend the Gospel meetings each week.
The assembly at Forres covered fourteen villages and most of the town during its annual tract distribution. Two requests for literature have been received. Sam Matthews, who prints and distributes gospel literature in the North of Scotland, reports that 1400 ‘Words of Comfort’ leaflets have been mailed this year, with a few replies being received expressing appreciation. The annual Bible Readings held in Forres in September were well attended. Very helpful and challenging teaching from Romans 12-14 was given by Colin Lacey and Alastair Sinclair.
From late October, Joe Baxter was with the assembly at Buckie for four weeks of gospel meetings. Many good contacts were made in door-to-door work, bridges were built and postal contact continues with some of them.
Fife
From mid-October 2007 the assembly in Tayport had four weeks of gospel meetings with Robert Eadie and Samuel Maze as the preachers. They preached also in the Gospel Hall in St Andrews on Lord’s Day evenings. Most of the meetings were quite well attended with a number of unsaved people being brought in to hear the gospel. Many more people were invited but failed to come in spite of promises made.
Treboeth, Swansea
Please pray for the seed sown by the assembly in Treboeth as they hosted a Bible Exhibition (provided by the Open Air Mission) from Monday 14th April to Friday 18th April 2008. The Exhibition is entitled ‘Exploring the whole Bible’ and the assembly has had the opportunity to take it into five Junior Schools in their area. This will be the fourth year running that the believers have been able to visit these schools and they have always had an amazing welcome. Comments from children and teachers have been very encouraging.
Deri
Blair Martin had two weeks of meetings with the assembly in March 2008. The numbers of unsaved coming in were excellent, with up to fourteen present one evening. A good interest was shown by the teenagers in the village and a supper was held on the Sunday evening, when a dozen young people came along. The ‘two roads/destinies’ chart was used as a focus and this engendered some discussion. The opportunity was taken during both weeks to go into the local primary school to speak to the whole school at their assembly. This resulted in an increased number coming to the mid-week children’s meeting. On the middle Lord’s Day of the two weeks, the believers opened the hall and had fifteen young people in during the day. Some interesting questions were asked. Gospel booklets were taken by those who were showing an interest. On the last evening of the meetings, two sons of a lady in fellowship were present with one of their wives. One of the sons professes to be saved. He noted that it had been a long time since he and his brother were in the hall together, as they are now in their late thirties, early forties. It was felt that the Lord had spoken during the meetings and there was a real sense of God at work throughout. The exceptional support of the believers was greatly appreciated. The saints at Deri would like to express their thanks for all the prayerful support and expressions of interest; it has been of considerable encouragement.
Reporting from the South Harry Reid and his wife Jean recently returned from another visit to Gort in the South of Ireland. It is located about 30 minutes drive south of Galway on the west Coast. This is their third visit and they are still amazed at the number of Brazilian immigrants that have settled in the town. It has been said that there are as now as many Brazilians in the town as Irish residents! It is Harry and Jean’s impression that this might well be the case. As on previous occasions they have been able to distribute hundreds of gospel tracts and, this time, calendars in the Portuguese language as well, without one refusal. Ten people are now doing Bible courses (Emmaus – ‘What the Bible Teaches’) mostly from a Roman Catholic background and some of these are showing a definite deepening interest in the word of God.
While in the South, Harry and Jean also visited Loughrae, which is about fifteen miles east of Gort, and Rosscommon, where there are also a good number of Brazilians. They were able to distribute gospel literature in these towns which was well received. Some of the Brazillian people in Gort informed them that there is also a colony of Brazilians in the town called Oranmore (nearer to the city of Galway). They hope to visit there in the not-too-distant future.
Work among ‘Travellers’
We have had a number of reports of work among travelling people in the South of Ireland. The average lifespan of a ‘traveller’ in Ireland is forty to fortyfive years, whereas the ‘settled person’ is seventy years. Workers in the South of Ireland report that it is common to hear of tragedies. Two main ones have come to their attention in the last few months. 1. A young husband, a father of two, shot as a bystander to a drugs related killing. He died in his wife’s arms. 2. A twenty-one-year-old man died from crashing his motorcycle into a pole near his caravan home – he died in his mother’s arms.
Reporting from the North
Ballysillan Gospel Hall, Belfast, had two weeks of gospel meetings in February 2008 with brother Norrie Emerson. One young lady received the Lord and a young man was restored. Unsaved were gathered in each evening and the gospel was faithfully preached. There was a wonderful sense of the Lord’s presence each night at the meetings.
The assembly at Ballymacashon had five weeks of gospel meetings with very encouraging attendance from locals. Some came in a number of times. Two brothers in their twenties professed to be saved; the rest of their family is in fellowship in the assembly so this was a great encouragement to them.
In Newry the believers convened meetings in an hotel; Clifford Law and Blair Martin were the speakers. The attendance at these meetings was very encouraging, especially from those not in the habit of going to gospel meetings.
Brian Currie and Alistair Cauldwell had six weeks of meetings in Broughshane. The local saints were very encouraged with the attendance at the meetings. Many souls unsaved heard the gospel.
In Antrim, John Rogers and David Gilliland preached the gospel over for a period of time recently. One person professed faith in Christ.
The assembly in Cardy recently had five weeks of gospel meetings with Malcolm Radcliffe (Jon Procopio of North America was meant to be with him but health problems prevented him from making the trip). Many people from the area came in to the meetings which gave the local believers a lot to thank the Lord for. A man in his late twenties professed that he had been saved.
A Bible exhibition was displayed in Randalstown recently. Many schoolchildren were brought to the exhibition and heard the gospel. This was a very encouraging time for the local saints.
The assembly in Lungs recently had a week of children’s meetings with Leslie Craig. They do not have a regular children’s work so they were delighted with the attendance of about one hundred children each night.
Albania
We have been sent a report concerning the work of the Lord in Albania from which we have extracted some information. There are a number of assemblies in Albania. The assembly at Elbasan has an outreach in a village called Cerrik. Graham and Sylvia Hobbs, who regularly visit Albania, had been there on a number of occasions but on the last visit they noted that the numbers of people attending the meetings had risen dramatically. Three girls (aged 14, 16 and 19) have recently been saved and baptized. Several lads who attended the baptism noticed the girls’ demeanour and clean life (in contrast to their own decadent lifestyle of drink, drugs and petty crime) and asked if they could have some Bible studies. This has since been organized by local believers.
Eastern European Inasmuch Trust
This Trust has been set up to support Romanian believers who are deeply involved in witnessing to the Roma people. The Roma people are often referred to as Gypsies. They have a long and fascinating history which has a great deal of mystery and intrigue attached to it. A significant part of the world’s Roma live in Central and Eastern Europe, often in depressed squatter communities with high unemployment. It is estimated that there are eight to ten million Roma worldwide with the largest concentration being in Romania. Official figures say that there are 535,250 Roma in Romania. The European Roma Rights Centre, however, shows that the actual figure is between 1.8 and 2.5 million. One of the Roma missionaries is a man called George Sortan. He is a humble and unassuming believer, a Romanian who has taken the gospel to his own people. He has been working among the Roma of Gura Raului in Romania for three years. A little assembly has been established with around forty in fellowship and sometimes at the meetings there are in excess of one hundred. A flourishing children’s work goes on each week.
Clermont, Florida, USA
If British families are visiting Florida they should be aware that the assembly in Clermont has moved. The new address details are noted below:
New Testament Believers’ Fellowship, 355 Citrus Tower Blvd., Suite 110, Clermont, FL. Contact Lanny Evans at [email protected] or phone 407-/469-2712 for directions and meeting times.
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