Monday, July 15, 2013

Ledbetter's Ireland Update July 2013

Ledbetter's Ireland Update July 2013
For a PDF of this prayer letter WITH images, click http://bit.ly/1aowjNm 

Dear Ministry Friends!
Such a busy Summer! One thing that is so great about Summer here in Ireland is that we as a church have so many evangelistic outreaches and events to keep us busy! For example, on a normal Saturday afternoon, we have an average of 15-16 men, women and teenagers out doing door-to-door evangelism. In the Summer, that number swells to 25-30! I just stand in amazement at the determination of our church folks to get the Gospel out all over Cork City! To help us this Summer, the Lord brought a young man named Alex, and he has been a tremendous blessing!

We are BUYING a Building! We have put a serious down-payment on a huge building in Ballincollig and have started the ball rolling on getting a small mortgage to purchase what is an incredible opportunity for the Gospel! For the past two years, we had been looking at purchasing a smaller building for twice the price of the building that we have settled on! The Lord seems to have just opened the door to a miracle-find of a huge building in great shape, and for so little a cost! We are stunned at this new opportunity, and really covet your prayers for us because we know how the devil will make this purchase and renovation as complicated as possible! It is my wish, and I have fervently prayed that we could just buy the building outright without any mortgage at all. We are almost able! Some churches have already helped us. But if you or your church wants to have any part in helping a Bible believing Baptist Church OWN its own building in Ireland, then let me know! Watch this space! And pray for us to have much wisdom!

19th Church Anniversary, Dinner and Baptism! June 9th marked our 19th anniversary as a church here in Ireland! We had an attendance of 144 souls, with 15 first time visitors! What a day! Following our church meeting, we all headed off to an incredible dinner, catered for us with loads of singing and testimonies of praise for how the Lord has so blessed our families with this church! Then, we all went out to the nearby Lee River for a Baptism! A teenager named Nathan had been waiting so long for some warm-ish weather to finally get Scripturally baptized! And the Lord so graciously provided it!

Victory Youth Camp! 86 people gathered at our Victory Youth Camp for 6 days in July of preaching, praying, awesome sports, activities, fellowship, and fun! Six young people were saved by God’s grace during the week! God gave us the perfect weather, and the best helpers! We focused on learning the life lessons from young Joseph in Genesis as he demonstrated godly character and integrity throughout his life! Everyone at Camp was greatly affected by the truths and challenges God gave us throughout the week! As usual, I can’t wait for next year’s Camp!

Upcoming Events

Children’s Summer Bible Club! In August we will be holding our outdoor Bible Club, called Amazing Kids of the Bible! 17 people are coming from NY state to help us for 2 weeks, and we are so thrilled! Pray many lost children and parents come to hear the Gospel! Pray for great weather and much lasting fruit!
Target the Heart Youth Evangelism Blitz! A final event we try and hold every year is a teen to teen evangelistic outreach where we teach our young men and women to engage their peers head to head with the Gospel, and get lost teens to come out to an evening preaching meeting at a local gymnasium where there will be loads of fun activities, but straight preaching about heaven, hell, and living for God!

Prayer Requests

So please pray 1) for our ability to purchase the building we have settled on; 2) for all our upcoming evangelistic events; 3) for our church to solidly grow; and most of all, 4) for the following people get saved: Miora and Finbarr K, Jim O’L, Sarah C, Pat W, Ann M, Denis L’s family, Brendan F, Kerri M, Chris M, and Barry G! Thank You for faithfully supporting us! And, God bless you all!


The Ledbetter Family in Ireland