hey to all our friends and family from the constantly rainy NI! seriously, we have had very very few days here since being back that it hasn't rained at all. as in, maybe none. but anyways, here is a quick update coming from the computer of our friend hayley, who is graciously letting us use it while we still have no internet.
well, this past week went very well and it seems the location of our house has turned out to very convenient thus far, because we are constantly having visitors and friends stop by, which we love! we have had some boys that we are close with stop by several nights last week and this weekend, and one night, we got into a very good discussion about the Lord! it really has been amazing to see how the Lord is opening up doors in this way, and these boys heard the Gospel very clearly for maybe the first time in their lives. pray for them by name-luke, steen, conner, and tully. speaking for myself, it seems that there have been more direct Gospel opportunities in this past week or two than usual- the Lord has opened up the door three times with seperate boys for me to completely share about the Jesus with them, so praise the Lord! keep praying for more "random" stop-ins at our house. i know the girls have had plenty of these as well, so pray for amy, tony, and katie for the girls.
this sunday we are starting a bible study for the kids from the estates, which had seemed to be something that they seemed interested in, so please pray the the Lord will bring who he wants to this on sunday, and that it will be a safe time for the kids to learn and ask about the Lord...and invite their friends.
last week, we also had the chance to meet with some young believers and are starting weekly bible studies with them. john and i will meet with kerry on friday afternoons to study the Word and then with Marty and Calvin on friday evenings to do the same. please pray for these times of discipleship and that the Word will take root in their hearts and grow. our friend Colin has also made contact with us again and seems to be doing better than before Christmas, so we are encouraged by that and hope to start some sort of regular discipleship with him, also. please pray for all of these opportunities.
well, thats about it for now. we love you all and miss you.
dwight
29 January, 2008
25 January, 2008
Our Apologies
Sorry for the embarrassingly long time since we last posted, if anyone still reads this then we plan on posting again regularly now that we're back. We're back! We got in 8 days ago, had no trouble with our passports, and moved in to our new house in Dunvale, which is pretty much the same area that we have been living in, except now we are in a more central location (the address is changed on the blog). We have met with and are officially working with the two churches that we built relationships with last semester, Hillside Community Church and Ballyloughan Presbyterian Church, and we are really excited about what we are going to be doing with them. We plan on posting later about the switch, but it is great to be working with churches in the estate! We don't have a phone or internet yet, so our gracious ex-neighbor Hayley is letting us use hers until we do. Here is how our week is shaping up to look like:
Monday: Mainly our day off, but the girls may help with childcare for a mothers and toddlers event at ballyloughan when they can.
Tuesday: We will meet with the main youth worker from ballyloughan, named Lorraine and have some time in the Word and to pray over the week together. We then have an afternoon kids club through Hillside which will have crafts, sports, homework help, etc., as well as a Bible study
Wednesday: We have an afternoon club with Lorraine for anyone from the estate either not in school or work- more or less a time to just hang out and build relationships. Following this club, we will go to Ballykeel to hang out with the kids we know there.
Thursday: We will do a door-to-door prayer ministry around the estate during the afternoon, asking the people what we can pray for them about, and either praying there with them if they would like, or writing it down to pray over later. This evening, we have a weekly youth club that meets at Ballyloughan, where most of the older kids that we know go to play and hang out.
Friday: Free afternoon to hang out with kids. That evening, we have music practice at Hillside for church on Sunday, as well as meeting and prayer with the elders, Sam and Alan.
Saturday: Free time to be with the people. This evening, the boys will help with a youth club for the younger kids from Ballyloughan church youth group.
Sunday: We will rotate having two interns at each church every Sunday morning. Hillside only has an evening service once a month, so we will attend that service once a month and Ballyloughan each other Sunday night. After the evening service,once every two weeks, we will run a youth Bible study for older kids in the church youth group. On the in between weeks, we will run a different Bible study for the kids from the estate, which is a really big step for them. So pray that as we spread the word about this bi-weekly Bible study, many will come and it will be accepted.
That is the basic schedule of planned events each week, with a lot of time in between to be available to hang out with kids and people from the estate as opportunities arrive. We also have several people who we will be meeting with weekly to either disciple through a Bible study, or to build on the relationship.
Well, as we said, we don't actually have an internet connection in our house yet, which is why we haven't blogged yet since we have been here. We will try to update as we can until we get the internet, which could be another 1-2 weeks. So please be patient with us, and continue to pray as we continue building on the relationships that the Lord has given. Spread the word that we are actually using our blog, for anyone who may be interested, and feel free to leave us any comments. We love you all!
Monday: Mainly our day off, but the girls may help with childcare for a mothers and toddlers event at ballyloughan when they can.
Tuesday: We will meet with the main youth worker from ballyloughan, named Lorraine and have some time in the Word and to pray over the week together. We then have an afternoon kids club through Hillside which will have crafts, sports, homework help, etc., as well as a Bible study
Wednesday: We have an afternoon club with Lorraine for anyone from the estate either not in school or work- more or less a time to just hang out and build relationships. Following this club, we will go to Ballykeel to hang out with the kids we know there.
Thursday: We will do a door-to-door prayer ministry around the estate during the afternoon, asking the people what we can pray for them about, and either praying there with them if they would like, or writing it down to pray over later. This evening, we have a weekly youth club that meets at Ballyloughan, where most of the older kids that we know go to play and hang out.
Friday: Free afternoon to hang out with kids. That evening, we have music practice at Hillside for church on Sunday, as well as meeting and prayer with the elders, Sam and Alan.
Saturday: Free time to be with the people. This evening, the boys will help with a youth club for the younger kids from Ballyloughan church youth group.
Sunday: We will rotate having two interns at each church every Sunday morning. Hillside only has an evening service once a month, so we will attend that service once a month and Ballyloughan each other Sunday night. After the evening service,once every two weeks, we will run a youth Bible study for older kids in the church youth group. On the in between weeks, we will run a different Bible study for the kids from the estate, which is a really big step for them. So pray that as we spread the word about this bi-weekly Bible study, many will come and it will be accepted.
That is the basic schedule of planned events each week, with a lot of time in between to be available to hang out with kids and people from the estate as opportunities arrive. We also have several people who we will be meeting with weekly to either disciple through a Bible study, or to build on the relationship.
Well, as we said, we don't actually have an internet connection in our house yet, which is why we haven't blogged yet since we have been here. We will try to update as we can until we get the internet, which could be another 1-2 weeks. So please be patient with us, and continue to pray as we continue building on the relationships that the Lord has given. Spread the word that we are actually using our blog, for anyone who may be interested, and feel free to leave us any comments. We love you all!
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