Gospel Work and Other Activities

SCOTLAND

ORKNEY The believers in Kirkwall had another successful holiday club in the Meadows Gospel Hall with around forty children coming during the week. Murray Lawrie conducted the meetings supported by the local brethren and sisters in the various activities.

The following week was ‘Stromness Shopping Week’, an annual event which attracts many local people and visitors into the town. The Gospel Hall in Stromness was open every afternoon with a Bible Exhibition and bookstall which was advertised daily on a local radio station. Also ‘Bible Talks’ were advertised for two evenings and around thirty people were present each time to hear Bert Cargill give presentations on ‘Fossils and Faith’.

NORTH AND EAST SCOTLAND A few couples in two Aberdeen assemblies, had been praying that God would exercise someone to come and preach the gospel in Newmachar where they live. Dan Gillies was led to do this, and after some difficulty, a site was obtained for his tent meetings in July. The meetings were well supported by believers from the surrounding assemblies and there was a good interest among both children and adults. Graeme Smith of the Woodside assembly shared the children’s meetings. A couple in their thirties from Newmachar professed salvation and also a young Malaysian woman, a hospital consultant, brought by a sister who is a doctor in the same hospital.

Young brethren from the Cullen assembly encouraged by the response to stand with tracts and customised CD’s during a fishing festival at Portnockie, followed up this work with three special gospel meetings, with a fishing theme. These meetings entitled ‘The Chart and Compass of Life’, ‘The Anchor of the Soul’ and ‘Reaching the Eternal Shore’. The meetings were advertised in the local press and a number of invitation cards were distributed door to door under the title ‘Focus on Fishing’. The response was most encouraging with a large number of people from the village and surrounding areas attending the meetings.

During the summer months the assemblies in Arbroath, Perth, Kinross, and St. Monans set up a little stand at their local fairs or gala days to display and distribute Christian literature and had a number of good conversations.

St Andrews. The annual outreach week in July was fully utilised by the assembly and supported by sixteen young believers from elsewhere. Stephen Arbuthnott was the preacher for Bible teaching in the forenoons and was responsible for the preaching of the gospel in the evenings. Open-air meetings were held in the market place, and on the beach for children, and also children’s meetings in the hall filled up the rest of the day.

FIFE Ballingry. The assembly in Ballingry pitched a tent in one of the believer’s gardens and Jack Hay and local brethren preached the gospel each evening. A good number of unsaved heard the gospel preached with clarity and power.

DUNFERMLINE During the second last week of the school holidays Abbot Hall in Dunfermline held their fifth Summer Mission Week. This was the second year at a Community Centre on the north east of the town. The programme consisted of a daily morning Children’s Holiday Club and an evening youth event, a Wednesday Senior Citizens’ Afternoon Tea, a Saturday Fun-Day and barbeque. The week concluded with a Family Service and Prizegiving. The theme for the week was the S.U. ‘Expedition Force’ programme and the speaker was George Forbes from Kinross. With the use of a sketchboard George took the children on a journey through Capernaum, Galilee, Gadara, Jericho, and, ultimately, Jerusalem. Attention and behaviour were excellent and the numbers were the best ever with over seventy children attending. Outside the centre a large gazebo was erected and a coffee area was set up which provided an opportunity to chat with parents while their children were at the holiday club. One of the mothers was brought up as a Buddhist in Hong Kong; she asked for a Bible and contact with her continues. The evening teenagers’ work saw fewer numbers than in the past but the behaviour and attention were far better than in the past. The senior citizens event was well attended with around eighty-five present and a lovely tea was provided by the sisters. The assembly was greatly blessed by the fellowship and harmony of being united in purpose and all who helped (many of whom took a week’s holiday from work) strove together in one spirit for the faith of the gospel. A regular weekly children’s club continues in this part of the town and prayer would be appreciated.

KINROSS The assembly held their annual conference on the first Saturday of September when helpful ministry was given by Craig Munro, Jack Hay and Ian Jackson. Ian Jackson continued with the assembly with one week of gospel meetings and a number of unsaved attended who had never been in the hall before. The gospel was preached with power and some good conversations ensued with some of the unsaved who attended. George Forbes held children’s meetings during which some children came who had never been in the hall before and they heard the gospel presented in a way they would understand.

LANARKSHIRE The summer work with the Lanarkshire Gospel Work was centred on Chapelhall and High Parks, Hamilton, with additional door to door visitation at Greengairs and Uddingston. Ian Jackson was the preacher and was ably helped by Paul McCauley of Belfast. The Saturday Gospel Rallies followed by ministry were held at Kirkmuirhill, Overtown, Greengairs, Newmains, Chapelhall and High Parks. The support by the believers was excellent.

At Chapelhall each evening the hall was well filled and on one occasion there was standing room only. Unsaved people were always present, as many as twenty-one on one night, all made fully aware of their need of salvation by preaching that was powerful and relevant. At High Parks the campaign opened with one girl being baptized. Later in the same week two teenage lads trusted the Lord, followed by a teenage girl also making a profession of faith in Christ. On the final evening a man who is the brother of a believer told the preacher he was ‘beyond the crossroads’ and was now trusting. In the village work Roy Marshall worked along with other brethren at Chapelhall and High parks, and was ably supported by a number of brethren visiting homes.

EYEMOUTH Stephen Grant and Jim Patterson, Jnr., had two weeks of gospel meetings in this east town using the portable hall. This is the fifth year it has been at this location, and although there were unsaved present each night, there was not as much interest as in previous years. There were also Children’s Meetings held and many children attended both the meetings each night. Graeme Patterson shared in the children’s work. Opportunity was also taken to distribute Seed Sower texts in new housing developments in nearby Dunbar, the rest of the town having been covered four years ago, and this produced some interesting contacts. The support of assembly believers on holiday in the area, and others who travelled, was greatly appreciated.

WALES

The Swansea and District assemblies camp enjoyed another successful year with some of the youngsters making a profession of faith in Christ.

The assembly in Treoboeth spent a week visiting four primary schools and presented ‘Pilgrims Progress’ to the children. Christians from the assembly had a good opportunity to share the gospel with a good number of children and teachers and as a result forged a relationship with neighbouring schools. The believers were encouraged by the response and enthusiasm shown towards them.

The Cardiff Assemblies Camps were held for the 57th year with Martin Erwin and Ian Wallace as the speakers. The Lord blessed the word spoken in salvation. The saints are encouraged that in every year of the camps, the Lord has blessed in salvation.

Llandaff North Gospel Hall. The believers here have been burdened for some time about reaching out to the community around them. Against this background a number of initiatives were taken, one of which involved help in the community such as cutting grass and hedges to help the elderly and this has given the believers the opportunity to talk to these people about the Saviour. In addition to this a large literature distribution was planned and as a result some new contacts were made and some children contacted are now attending the Sunday School and weeknight Children’s Club whilst a mother asked if she could come to the meeting on the sunday evening and a brother in the assembly (an ex headteacher) has been invited to take the school assemblies. A website which was opened led to a young woman being contacted and she has since been baptized.

Brother Paul Young reports of a visit to the Interlink Glasgow Missionary Meetings where he had the opportunity to minister God’s word to a company of over 500 people. It is most encouraging to see such a healthy interest in the Lord’s work abroad. Paul also spoke at the Postal Bible School Camp in Enniskillen and felt a deep sense of the Lord’s presence. He reports that the Plymouth Assemblies senior camp at Tintagel felt a deep sense of the Lord’s presence and a number were saved and one boy has since been baptized.

In Caerphilly the saints from the Gospel Hall were granted the use of a stall at an event called ‘The Big Cheese’. More than 100,000 people visited the event and several thousand information packs were given out. The children’s packs contained information about the Postal Bible School and the adult packs included a Seed Sower Stan Burditt and Wyn Williams assisted in this work and used the John 3. 16. balloon that Stan uses for the Northampton Balloon Festival. Some elderly ladies from a home adjacent to the hall have been coming to the gospel meeting and the ‘Toddler Time’ is growing nicely. A girls group (10-14 yearolds) has also been started and the initial response has been very good.

Rumney Gospel Chapel held a Friday Night Youth Club and saw numbers rising to over ninety. When the work re-commenced in September, more than 100 came on the first night. The highlight of the evening is the message and earnest prayer is being made that God will save these young people. Workers are also required urgently and the space limitations in the building give room for concern. During July the believers took part in a local festival, erecting a tent in the events field and holding the Sunday meetings there. Many interesting contacts were made. Mike Thomas and his wife Janet have been commended to full-time service for the Lord and have already visited a number of schools in the east of Cardiff and had the opportunity to take some school assemblies.

ENGLAND

CHELTENHAM A number of old properties have been removed and replaced with new houses around the area of the Gospel Hall and this has prompted the assembly to compile a ‘Welcome Pack’ for distribution. The response has been encouraging and has resulted in growing numbers in the ‘Sunday Seekers’ and ‘Parent and Toddlers’ outreach work.

LONDON AREA Ealing. The assembly at Grove Hall, Ealing, distributed around 7,000 invitations in their local area for gospel meetings with Archie Carew, Ian Jackson and Scott Dunn. One Roman Catholic woman professed faith in Christ.

South Norwood. Joe Baxter had three weeks of gospel meetings following a few weeks meetings in Sydenham. In both places several thousands of tracts were distributed and the homes were visited extensively. Encouraging numbers of unsaved were present including some who have been contacted over several years.

Wembley Gospel Hall. Nitish Patel had ten days gospel meetings which were translated into an Indian lanuage. Many unsaved came in off the busy shopping street outside and were challenged with the message of the gospel

Pamber Heath. Following on from the Bible Exhibition, the assembly held some gospel meetings with Jack Hay. Some unsaved were present to hear the gospel.

Ambrosden. Four weeks of gospel meetings were held in Ambrosden with Michael Penfold and Kevin Wyatt as the speakers. Over sixty different unsaved attended including many from the village. These were quickly followed by two weeks of gospel meetings in Newbury with John Meekin and some local brethren sharing in the responsibility of preaching. A tent was pitched on the land of Graham Butler and several of the workers from his tree surgery company attended the meetings. One twenty-year-old man who had been the subject of much prayer, was saved on the last night.

Bicester. Gospel tent meetings were held in Bicester for two weeks in August. Over seventy different unsaved attended among whom were five ‘Cooneyites’ who attended on a few occassions – the first time any had come to the meetings. A number of homes were visited in the course of the meetings and invitations given. One of the tent sides was stolen during the final week but apart from that the time was peaceful.

Redditch. In the previous Precious Seed magazine we reported that a young man in his teens who had previously caused problems had been saved, baptized, and was now in fellowship. His mother refused to come to his baptism because she was a Jehovah Witness. A few weeks after this she came to the gospel meeting and was saved, and has since been baptized and recieved into the assembly. Brother Keith Bullock continues his work in open-air preaching with many interesting contacts being made and many of these leading to good conversations. Prayer is requested that continued liberty will be given to take the gospel out into the streets and that through this, many will be reached and saved.

NORTHERN IRELAND

CO. LONDONDERRY AND DONEGAL J. Martin and W. Martin have concluded eight weeks of gospel meetings in Gortade. There was a reasonable response from the neighbourhood and blessing was seen in two men and one woman professing faith in Christ In Limavady W. Fenton and M. Radcliffe had meetings in the Gospel Hall and saw a good number of unsaved attending with blessing in salvation.

CO. TYRONE Castlecaulfield. A. Redpath and B. Glendinning had gospel meetings in a portable hall and were encouraged when the person granting the ground professed faith in Christ. The man had been concerned about his soul for around nine months. Prayer is requested for his wife.

CO. ANTRIM Ballycastle. During the two day Lamas Fair some open-air meetings were conducted and many gospel tracts distributed. Some 250,000 people attended the event which gave good opportunity to witness for Christ.

CO. LEITRIM A community hall was rented in the county for the preaching of the gospel. The area has been virtually untouched by any effort of this nature. H. Milliken and T. Topley shared responsibilty in the work and were assisted by a brother from Cork.

CO DOWN Bangor. R. Pickering conducted open-air meetings on the sea front during the first two weeks in July. The meetings were well supported by the local assemblies and many heard the gospel.