‘…And He that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully,

     What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord’

Thank you for your faithful prayers on our behalf, missions cannot be undertaken merely on human effort, and souls are not won on that basis! We rejoice that the Lord has been at work, though our job has mostly been sowing seed,  preaching the word; we trust that the harvest is sure ‘ through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ’. The word of God is so precious, and God has called his people to share it faithfully, but we must have it, and it must have us! 

Just after the new year Andrew and I were missioning in the village of Maghaberry.

Maghaberry is probably most known for its prison population, but in recent years  many housing developments have sprung up in the village. Some of the doors are the ones that you break your knuckles rapping them, but several folks were willing  to discuss  spiritual things. We operated out of a portable hall and numbers fluctuated between five and sixty! Local interest included two ladies that walked in several nights ands a family who squeezed in at the back one night as Sam Workman was preaching. Several alcoholics attended  and were in to hear the testimony of a lady converted and delivered from it, what a terrible bondage to be in, one is the husband of a local Christian lady, she would love to see him saved and delivered from the grip of drink. It has cost them both dearly.

Quality is always better than quantity! On our lowest night numerically an unsaved couple were in, and praise God the Lord gripped the meeting from start to finish. We owed a debt of gratitude to Maghaberry Elim church who supported well and to Pastor Johnny Brown who gave a very clear word of testimony at the mission, also several ladies who helped with the childrens club.

Waringsford, is a little community not far from Dromore, but with plenty of countryside visiting to be done, and plenty of dogs, thankfully my heels are intact. Working out of an orange hall we received much help and support from a local mission hall in nearby Kinallen. Kinallen was missioned earlier in the year by Trevor Matthews with Andrew and myself involved in visiting and some preaching. A lady was clearly converted and is going on well. Some notable conversations took place on the doors, one with a young woman who professed to be an Atheist and had some hard questions. I welcome hard questions because it generally means that the person is not indifferent. The interesting thing is this, that there was no need to prove the Bible by scientific or philosophical means to her, it was not arguing, but the Spirit of God and simply sharing the Gospel in plain and scriptural terms that granted a breakthrough , the gospel is still ‘the power of God unto Salvation to every one that believeth’. Many peoples intellectual arguments are just ‘hot air’ that mask their heart rejection of the Truth. Another Lady could tell me all about the ‘ghosts’ that  inhabited her road, but was simply unable to see the truth. How sad that people can believe in ‘ghosts’ or in the power of evil, and reject the Son of God who came to save them. 

Coming up soon God willing we have our annual Workers meetings in Portadown immediately followed by the Bangor Convention. Plans are in place for a Tent mission in the Lisburn area, but the exact location is to be confirmed. We hope to be missioning in the Commons area outside Carrickfergus shortly, and trust that the Lord will bless these labours.

‘Every word of God is Pure, he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him’

Alan