Reports

England

Northamptonshire

In March, the believers in Spencer Bridge Road, Northampton, hosted the Ayrshire Bible Exhibition for the seventh time. The programme of school visits was oversubscribed with twenty-seven schools and about 1250 children attending. Please pray that the gospel presented during the tour will have challenged children, teachers and helpers. The good response from the schools is a consequence of the extensive school visitation work carried on from the assembly throughout the shire and the visit of the Exhibition in earlier years. The assembly have also had opportunity to present prizes to children in some schools.

Also in Northampton, the assembly at Osborne Road has been encouraged following an exercise by the younger believers to commence a Sunday School work, called ‘The Light’, to complement their weekday children’s outreach. Following on from interest in their carol service, the assembly has also started a coffee morning outreach and has been encouraged by around half a dozen people from the locality coming along.

Please pray that God will bless these works and encourage the workers.

Yorkshire

In Hemsworth Gospel Hall, near Pontefract, the Saturday ‘teas’ are still ongoing with up to twenty older people from the town coming in to share a meal and hear the gospel. It is a fact that reaching older people with the gospel is hard and very few trust the Saviour so it is encouraging to have so many under the sound of the gospel. The meetings are still ongoing in three Senior Citizen’s homes around the Hemsworth area each month and they consist of a time of hymn- singing followed by a short gospel message. They also are seeing unsaved into their Gospel Meeting most Sunday nights.

Somerset

The assembly meeting at Pensford Gospel Hall has a regular outreach to the village and beyond. Every Wednesday afternoon there is a Ladies’ Meeting which is reasonably well attended. Four times a year evangelical literature is distributed to the 400+ homes in the village and further afield there is a monthly visit to a Residence for Seniors in Midsomer Norton. Up to twenty residents attend. The assembly has also recently revised its website and hopes that it will be used by the Lord as a means of contact with locals and visitors. It is www.pensfordgospelhall .org.uk

Merseyside

The open-air work in Liverpool continues to attract good numbers of people listening to the gospel on a Tuesday and Friday lunchtime (and once a month on a Saturday). There has been opposition from time to time but this has served only to attract a crowd. Please pray for the people who listen and in particular pray for Lance, Ken, Mark, Joseph and Marianne.

The assembly in Bethany Hall, Huyton, has been running a monthly ‘Gospel Tea’ outreach for about eighteen months. The numbers of unsaved coming started on the low side but in recent months the numbers have increased dramatically. On occasions in excess of twenty-five unsaved have been in the hall. Please pray for the families who come, Latiff and his family and Mark and his family.

Two assemblies in Liverpool have a monthly Sunday evening Bible Class. The numbers of believers attending has been extremely encouraging, reaching over sixty on some nights. Please pray that this interest in the word of God will be the foundation for further blessing.

Scotland

Lanarkshire

At the end of January, the assembly at Plains had two weeks with the Ayrshire Bible Exhibition. Over six hundred schoolchildren from primary years six and seven and secondary year two attended. The exhibition was well received by the children and staff who accompanied each class. Some of the schools that came along were those in the area in which Graeme Paterson has an ongoing work of Bible teaching, assemblies, after school children’s meetings, class room work and counselling. The children’s work from the assembly continues on a weekly basis with a healthy number of children attending. Some mothers bring their children and sit through the gospel address. Before Christmas the local school asked if they could have their Christmas service in the hall, and so the pupils and teachers walked through the village to the hall led by two Police Officers because of the amount of snow blocking the pathways! In addition to all the school pupils, there were around thirty adults in at the meeting. The school was happy to leave the service totally to Graeme and so he was able to freely preach the gospel. During the winter Graeme and Jim Paterson held gospel meetings in the hall. There were a number of visitors at the meetings, but due to the problems associated with the severe snow and low temperatures the meetings had to be stopped early. Prayer would be appreciated for the ongoing work in the gospel.

Northern Ireland

The assembly at Kells has been holding gospel meetings with John Rogers and Stan Wells in a portable hall in Tully. Good numbers have been attending and six have professed to be saved.

At Banbridge, Malcolm Radcliffe and David Gilliland had gospel meetings. The Lord has blessed in the salvation of some.

Leslie Craig and Paul McCauley had five weeks of encouraging meetings in Ballymacashon. They also had a good reception as they went door-to-door. Several of the local people attended.

In Ardstraw, Gary Woods and David McGarvey have also had the joy of seeing some saved.

Overseas

Romania

During the past six months, quite a few encouraging developments in the work have taken place. Souls are still being saved. The believers are encouraged by some positive problems, such as not having enough space at times to accommodate the large numbers coming along to the modest buildings being used. In Salistea, plans are already underway to begin the construction of a new building in the spring and discussions are taking place for an extension in Gura Raului. It also seems that the hall in Geoagiu will need extending.

The people of Orlat are deeply Orthodox in their beliefs and there is no evangelical witness in the village. In December, Jonathan Kelso made a visit to the Gypsy quarters with a Romanian brother, Andi Ciopasiu. They went to the home of a thirty-eight-year-old man called Ghita who suffers from a chronic heart condition, spoke with him for a long time about his soul and prayed with him. They also spoke to him about the possibility of starting a work with the children. He was very keen for that to happen and offered the use of his tiny home to facilitate this. Ghita then took them down the street to his mother’s home and there were quite a few friends and family already there. They had a great opportunity to share the gospel with this family group. An invitation was given to come along to the meeting in Gura Raului on Sunday morning. On the Sunday when Jonathan called for those who wanted to come, seven came along. On the Monday afternoon a meeting for the children was held in Ghita’s little one-roomed house; thirty-two children and mothers came along for the first meeting. Please pray that the Lord will bless in the salvation of precious souls as Christ is introduced to the Gypsy people of Orlat.

Italy

The believers in Naples have seen some baptisms which gave opportunity to witness. The hall was packed to overflowing, with children sitting on the floor and adults standing. The Lord was pleased to bless the preaching, and a sixteen-year-old girl called Brenda, who is the niece of Antonella, one of the ladies baptized, was visibly touched. Please do pray for her, that the Lord would bring her to salvation. The only negative point was that a neighbour who is suffering from a nervous breakdown, called the police, complaining that the singing was disturbing her. Please pray for wisdom and grace, and that the lady herself might find grace and peace in Him!

Prayer has been answered for Emanuele, the son of a Peruvian lady, Noemi, who was converted recently. He was an alcoholic and aggressive, causing much pain to his mother. He is now seeking to evangelize his friends, many of whom are ex-convicts, drug addicts, or in the Mafia. He has also asked to be baptized, so please do pray as the local believers seek to do some relevant studies with him, and that others who have recently been saved will also desire to obey the Lord by being baptized.